Xanth's New Sorceresses
by Honey Kitten
Summary: What happens when two Sorceresses accidently go to Mundania for 11 years, then find their way back to Xanth?
1. Entering Xanth

Chapter 1- Entering Xanth  
"STEEEPH!" Mya yelled, running into the classroom. All the students in the room, and the teacher, turned and looked at Mya. She turned bright red and took two steps back.  
"Uhh...I need to talk to Steph," she muttered pathetically. Then she turned and walked out of the room. She could hear the students all laughing. Steph waited two seconds, and then followed her out of the room.  
"You really gotta learn to think before you do stuff, Mya. That was really embarrassing," Steph said.  
"Ha ha…yeah, well, you know me," Mya chuckled. She was really embarrassed, but she did stupid stuff that like all the time.  
"So what was so friggin' important you had to come get me out of class for it?" Steph inquired.  
Mya got an evil glint in her eye. "You'll NEVER believe what I just got." Steph waited for her to finish the sentence. Mya waited for Steph to guess. Finally, Steph gave in.   
"Alright, what did you get?" she asked, rolling her eyes.   
Mya didn't say anything. Apparently she wasn't pleased with Steph's lack of guesses.   
"Just tell me, butthead," Steph added.  
"Well, I don't know if I want to anymore," Mya said, giving Steph a slightly evil glare.  
"Oh, you know you want to tell me. So stop being stupid, and just tell me!" Steph was getting annoyed, and a little curious.  
Mya laughed. "Yeah, you're right. I do want to tell you. Ok…it's a new computer game called COMPANIONS OF XANTH!" Her face lit up. She stayed quiet now, allowing this to sink in.  
"So what…a stupid computer game? That's more of Derek's thing." Then she paused for a moment. "Wait…did you say Xanth?? As in, Xanth?" Her voice was tinged with excitement.  
"Yeah!! I did!! Xanth!! I could hardly believe it when I saw it!! It took practically all the money I've saved up this week, but when I saw it, I knew we had to have it."  
A dark cloud took over Steph's face. "But…it IS only a game. It's not like it'll solve anything."  
"Well, you never know unless you try!" Mya said optimistically. "And I don't know about you, but I want to try right away!"  
"Of course I do too," Steph said. Her voice betrayed her skepticism. Mya chose to ignore that.  
"Well, let's go to my house right now, and we can play it! I don't want to play here at school. Too many computer geeks."  
"Yeah, you're right. Let me just go grab my books from this class and we'll go," Steph agreed.  
"Ok," Mya said. "I'm going to go get my coat from my locker. I'll get yours too."  
"Ok."  
The two met up a few minutes later. Mya gave Steph her jacket, and Steph put it on. Then they walked down the hallway towards the outside doors. As semi-experts in the art of skipping, they knew how to leave with no problems. Soon they were outside.  
"Holy shit its cold today," Steph said, touching her hands to her cheeks.  
"I know! It's the freaking wind," Mya agreed. Deciding not to talk anymore, lest they waste time, the two trekked it over to the bus stop. Then, of course, they had to wait a good 9 minutes before it showed up. Finally the bus drove up the street, and stopped for them to get in. Shivering, they showed their passes to the driver, and sat down. The first few minutes were spent in silence. Finally Steph spoke up.  
"So…what do you think this game means?" she asked Mya.  
Mya looked pensive. "I don't really know. I guess we'll have to find out." They both nodded. Nothing else was said. They approached their stop, and Steph pulled the bell to stop the bus. It stopped, and they got off. Crossing the road, they went into Mya's house.  
"Just take off your coat and all that, and we'll get started," Mya directed. She and Steph both took off their apparel. Then they both grabbed a chair, and sat down in front of the computer. Mya opened the box, and pulled the disk out. It had nothing on it at all, aside from the words, "INSERT DISK- TYPE A:\XANTH- TOUCH ENTRE. So in the disc went.  
"Type it in!!" Steph urged.  
"Hold on! I'm getting there," Mya said. She then typed in "A:/XANTH," and pressed entre. Nothing happened.  
"What's going on?" Mya said, shocked.  
Steph looked at her like she was dumb. "You typed it in wrong."  
"Oh." Mya tried again, this time typing it in right. This time when she pressed entre, a little man appeared. The figure looked up and started speaking, its words appearing in speech bubbles in the ordinary cartoon fashion.  
"I'm Grundy Golem. I'm from the Land of Xanth, and I speak your language. I'm your temporary companion. If you don't like me you can get rid of me in just a minute. But first listen a bit, okay? Because I'm here to take your hand and lead you through the preliminaries without confusion. Any questions you have, you just ask me. You do that by touching the Q key, or clicking the right side of your mouse. So go ahead- ask."   
It appeared Grundy Golem was done his little spiel. "What should we do?" Mya asked Steph.  
"Ask it how we can get into the game!" Steph said.  
"Ok," Mya agreed. She hit the Q key. She expected to be able to type now, but Grundy started talking again.  
"Okay, so you have a question. You have one of those primitive Mundane keyboards, right? So you have two ways to do it. You can type the question so I can see it, or you can touch ENTRE and it will bring up the list of the ten most common asked questions at this stage. Then you can use your arrow keys to highlight the question you want, and touch ENTRE again, or just shortcut by it by typing the number of the question you want. I'll wait while you decide. If you want me to resume without waiting, touch ESCAPE." Grundy stopped talking, and looked down. He appeared to be waiting for the girls' answer.   
"Try asking him now," Steph prompted. Mya nodded.  
"How can we get into Xanth now?" She typed.  
The little character Grundy looked pensive for a moment. "To shortcut directly to the action, touch SHIFT ESCAPE. But I strongly advise against this, because there's more you have to do, like checking in, and you'll be stuck with me as your Companion. Once you know the ropes, you can skip this whole scene, but please don't do it this time."  
"Dammit," Mya said.  
"What's the problem?" Steph asked. "Just hit SHIFT ESCAPE and we'll get on with it!"  
"But what if he's not the best Companion? Shouldn't we check out the other possibilities, first?"  
"Oh…right. Well, ask him about that, then."  
"Ok." Mya agreed. "Grundy," she typed, "How do we choose a Companion?"  
Grundy frowned. "I was hoping you would decide to stay with me. I can speak the languages of animals and plants, and learn things that others can not." Here, he paused and smiled. "But maybe you still will choose me. Here are the other six Companions from which to choose." He pulled up another scroll.  
It contained six names: Goody Goblin, Horace Centaur, Jenny Elf, Marrow Bones, Metria Demoness, and Nada Naga. Mya and Steph read the descriptions of each character.  
"Well, we won't need protection," Mya said. That eliminated Nada Naga, whose main function they gathered to be changing into a large snake and protecting others.  
"And we won't need guidance," Steph put in. That took out Jenny Elf, who had a cat that could find anything but home.  
"We won't need smarts…I got all the brains!" Mya said, laughing.  
"Well, maybe you don't, but I do," Steph said. The two looked at each other.  
"Well, either way, we won't need Horace Centaur." At least they could agree on that.  
"I think I'd be afraid of Marrow Bones," Mya said, "so let's not take him."  
"And I don't think I'd like a goblin much," Steph said. So that also eliminated Goody Goblin.  
"So that leaves Grundy Golem and Metria Demoness," Mya stated.  
"I think we should take Metria," Steph offered.  
"No…I think we should take Grundy," Mya said.  
"Why?" Steph asked. "I'm sure Metria would be a good Companion. Surely a demon would provide good…companionship."  
"Yeah, but Grundy can speak all the languages. I don't know if we can…so shouldn't we take him?"  
Steph thought about this for a minute. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said slowly. Apparently she didn't wholly agree, but was willing to go along with it.  
"Ok," Mya said. She typed, "Grundy Golem, we chose you."  
Grundy looked up. "Select my name and press RETURN." Mya did so. Grundy smiled. "I'm glad you chose me to be your Companion. Please introduce yourself. You can do so by typing your name and description."  
Mya looked at Steph, and shrugged. She typed, "Mya and Steph. Females. Age 16."  
"Hello Myaandsteph," Grundy said. "Shall we get on with the adventure?"  
Mya had been about to correct him about the name, but Steph nudged her in the ribs. "Look!" she said, "get on with the adventure!"   
Nodding, Mya typed, "Get on with the adventure."  
"Excellent!" Grundy said, clapping his hands. "Can I make one suggestion, first?" He appeared to be waiting.  
"Sure," Mya typed.  
"Ok, fat head. It would be easier on both of us if you were in the screen with me."  
Mya decided to ignore the fat head comment. "How do we get in the screen?" she typed.  
"Try to focus on something behind the screen. You'll see two dots. Try to make them become three dots. It may take a while, but you'll know when it happens."  
Steph and Mya both stared at the screen. Mya squinted her eyes. Steph did likewise. Suddenly, Steph appeared to be on the screen. This broke Mya's concentration, but only for a second. She had to get in there to prove she could! She concentrated on the two dots, until finally they became three.  
"Hey, hey! It's 3-D!" Mya said.  
"Brilliant observation," Steph muttered.  
"You dunderheads did that very quickly!" Grundy commented. "But you're not truly in the game yet, that only happens when you really believe in ma-" Grundy paused, looking at them. He seemed amazed and confused. "Wait, you guys ARE in the game. I mean here. In Xanth. How did you do that?" He was shaking his head, dazzled.  
Mya looked at Steph. Steph looked at Mya. They grinned. "I guess we believe in magic!" They said in unison. Grundy just stared. They were in Xanth!  
  
*** 


	2. To The Good Magician's Castle

To The Good Magician's Castle  
Grundy stared at the girls. "You've got some questions to answer," he said.  
"Shoot," said Mya.  
Grundy looked confused. "Shoot what? We don't have any Mundane guns here in Xanth."   
"Umm…sorry. I meant go ahead and ask your questions."  
"Oh. Very well. First off, how are there two of you here? I was too dazed to ask when you first entered, but now that I think about it, there should only be one Companion. I think. I never really asked Professor Grossclout about that." Grundy took a deep breath.  
"Well…I guess since you didn't know, and we didn't know, that it was just okay," Mya said, using her strange method of logic.  
"Yeah, that makes sense!" Steph added. "If no one knows it's wrong, it's not really wrong, is it?"  
Slowly Grundy smiled. "I guess that works! You two fish lips are smarter than you look. But that still doesn't explain how you got right into Xanth. You're not supposed to be able to do that until you believe fully in magic. And no Mundanes believe right away. So how'd you do it?"  
Mya and Steph exchanged glances. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Mya asked Steph. Steph nodded. "I think so," she said.  
"Well, Grundy, I'm guessing it's the same logic. We didn't know we had to believe in magic, and we really wanted to be in Xanth, so we just got in! Call it BLIND luck," Mya explained. She and Steph didn't want to betray their secret, at least not just yet.  
Grundy looked skeptical. "Well, I guess that works." Apparently he'd decided to accept their story for now. "Ok, spoon faces, we should head towards the Good Magician's Castle now."  
Steph and Mya looked at each other. "Grundy, could you excuse us for one minute?" they asked politely.  
"What for?" Grundy asked, crude as always.  
"Umm…nature is calling," Mya said quickly.  
"Oh, sure," Grundy said, blushing. He walked a ways off and left the two alone.   
Mya collapsed against a tree. "I can't believe we're actually back! This is great!" she said, breathing in the air.  
"I know!" Steph said, doing likewise. She touched a new Monia flower, but didn't pick it, as she didn't want to get sick. "It's amazing here! But I know what you're thinking…what do we do now?"  
"Yep. You're dead on. We managed not to tell Grundy that we're really Sorceresses, but what are we supposed to do now? Do we go with him to see Humfrey? Or try to ditch him and go on our own?"  
"I don't know. We could go to our old village…but who knows what we'd find? We've been gone for 11 years. A lot can change in 11 years."  
"You're right. Well, if anyone would know what we should do, it would be Humfrey. I vote we let Grundy play dumb, and go with him to Humfrey's castle. Let him think we're the innocent Mundane Companions he thinks we are," Mya said  
"Ok," Steph agreed. "So it's on to the Good Magician's Castle!" She smiled. Mya smiled back.  
"Grundy!" she called. "We're ready to go!"  
"Ok!" Grundy called. "Hold your horse tails, I'm coming!" The two girls listened as Grundy scampered over to them. "Ready to go, then? We have to head towards the Gap…the Gap…the Gap something, to get to his Castle. Fortunately for you, we're really close to that. It should only be about half a days journey to get to his castle!"  
"Great!" Mya and Steph said in unison. "Let's get going!"  
Grundy nodded in agreement. "We can't use any Enchanted Paths…you're Players in the game, so you can't get help from them, it would be like cheating. So we'll have to rough it through the old fashioned way." He started forwards, and the two followed. They had no complaints about it…they were back in Xanth!  
They followed Grundy as he trekked off-trail…it was quite a lot like Mundane hiking. Of course, in Mundania, they don't have tangle trees, and artis-trees, and all of the other wonderful Xanth things, but Mya and Steph were enjoying it all the more for that matter! They revealed in looking at all the strange vegetation, watching with keen interest as Grundy talked to trees and grass, and even spotted a few strange birds. Ah, to be back in the land of Xanth!  
Suddenly, Grundy stopped walking. "Uh oh," he said.  
"What's the matter?" Mya asked.  
"See up ahead there?" he asked. "That's a basilisk. One look in the eye from that guy, and you'll be stoned for life."  
Mya and Steph thought hard. They were sure they could get around the basilisk no problem if they used their talents. But they were trying to keep those secret, for now. So what should they do?  
"Uhh…Grundy?" Mya asked. "We have to answer Nature again. Would you mind if we just went over there for a few moments?"  
Grundy looked at them as if they'd grown two heads. They just went a few minutes ago! And there was a basilisk here! Talk about priorities! "Well, ok, if you absolutely have to," he said. "But make sure not to look at the basilisk! I'll wait for you right here."  
"Ok," Mya agreed. "We'll be careful." Then she and Steph walked a bit backwards, and crouched behind a tree.  
"What should we do?" Mya whispered to Steph.  
Steph looked like she was deep in thought. "Mya," she said slowly, "why exactly ARE we hiding our talents?"  
Mya looked a little shocked. "Well…I'm not sure, exactly. I guess it's so we can make our identity known when WE want to....not a moment before."  
"Well, I think it may be time to make our identities known. I don't see any other way to get around this basilisk."  
"But it's a game! Normal Mundanes who don't have talents are supposed to be able to get around it! There must be a way!" Mya argued.  
Reluctantly, Steph agreed. "Ok. We'll go back out there, and look for a way, but if we can't find one, we're using our talents. Agreed?"  
"Agreed," Mya said. Then they walked back over towards Grundy.  
"Oh, I'm glad you're back!" Grundy said. "While you were gone, I questioned some of the plants in the area. It seems that the basilisk is standing on some sort of strange grass…as if it could open up, or something." Grundy couldn't help them any more than that. As a Companion, he could inform the players of the problem, but could not provide the solution. That was up to them.  
"Well, let's look carefully around the area, and see if we can find anything that might help us," Mya suggested. The others nodded, and they all started walking around, inspecting trees and flowers. Mya found a group of tics. There were cri-tics, and fantas-tics, and cri-tics. But none of these would help. She looked on.  
Meanwhile, Steph wasn't having much more luck. She was inspecting trees. There were some tall ones, some short ones, some blue ones, and some orange ones, but she didn't think any of those could help. But wait…what was that? A red flashing on the orange tree? It was very faint and hard to see- but yes! It was there.  
"Mya, come over here!" Steph called. "I think I found something!" Mya came and joined her. "Look at this! I think it's a button!" Mya looked at the flashing light.  
"I think you're right! Should we push it?" she asked.  
"I guess so!" Steph said. And without another thought, she reached down and pushed the button.  
There was a growl from the direction of the basilisk. Without thinking, Mya turned and looked. And looked again. Where had the basilisk gone?  
"Grundy!" she called. "The basilisk isn't there anymore!"  
"Why, you're right! What happened?" he asked.  
"Well, I pushed this button, and then he was gone!" Steph said.  
Mya had walked over to the area the basilisk was in. "Guys, look at this! I think it was a trap door! When you pushed the button, the basilisk fell into this hole!"  
"Why would you want to trap King Dor?" Grundy asked, walking over. Steph was coming, too.  
"Not trap King Dor. It trapped the basilisk! See, there he is, at the bottom of this hole." Steph and Mya leaned over to look in. Just then, the basilisk started to look up. Grundy pulled them both back.   
"I think we should get going," he said quickly. The two girls' consented, and they continued on their trek.  
Soon enough they reached the Gap Chasm. "So that's what it's called!" Grundy exclaimed. "Usually I can remember! See, Dor put a forget spell on it, and now it's hard to remember about it."  
"That's interesting," Mya said. "But how do we get around it?"  
"Well," Grundy answered, "there's an invisible path going over it that we should be able to pass on."  
"Great!" said Mya. She walked bravely forward to the area that Grundy had indicated. Unknown to Grundy and Mya, the path had been recently used to go towards the Good Magician's Castle, and thus would not work right now. If a person walked over the path one way, it would switch sides so they could come back. But never both ways at once. However, due to a little intervention by Steph, there was a path there, and they were able to cross.  
"Hey, that was good luck!" Grundy said. "Sometimes the path doesn't work! Well, all you have now is the Good Magician's tree challenges…and then you're in."  
"Excellent," Mya said. "Let's get going!" Luckily for the two anxious girls, the challenges were set up for Mundanes, and were not too hard to pass, this time.  
They approached the moat. There was no moat monster there. In fact, the water looked quite calm.   
"What's going on?" Mya inquired. "I thought there was supposed to be a challenge?" She stepped into the water, and immediately jumped back out. "Ack!! It's freezing! No way we can go through that! We'll turn into popsicles!"   
"You mean Tsoda Popka? How could it turn into a sickle?" Grundy asked. He was perplexed by the odd terms the Mundane's kept using.  
"Uhh..never mind!" Steph said quickly. But look! There's a boat. Maybe we could use that to get across the moat!"   
All three agreed. They climbed into the boat, and started rowing. All was going well, until they realized…they were back on the first bank! What had happened?  
"Ok, Mya, your rowing must not be adequate. Let me try," Steph said, grabbing the ores. Shrugging, Mya gave them to her, and let her row. The same problem happened.  
"Here, Grundy, you try!" Steph said, throwing the ores to the little man. Grundy took them, and with some difficulty, began rowing. When he stopped, the three found themselves at the original side again.  
"Hmmm…" Mya said. "I've been thinking. Maybe it's not WHO's rowing, but HOW you row. Let's try doing it backwards." Steph and Grundy looked dubious…wouldn't rowing backwards just take them towards where they came from? But they relented the ores and let Mya try, anyway.  
To their great surprise, they ended up on the other side! "Mya, how did you do that?" Steph asked.  
"Well, when I figured out it didn't matter who was rowing, I thought maybe we were going the wrong way. It's a hot day…so the moat water should be warm, too. But it's not. It's cold. This is reverse water!" she exclaimed.  
"Oh, I get it!" Steph said, smiling. "We had to row backwards, thus rowing forwards! It all makes sense now."  
It didn't make so much sense to Grundy, but he just smiled and agreed. "Let's continue on," he said.  
They walked towards the hill. Grundy started up it, and Mya and Steph followed behind. As they walked up the hill, they realized they weren't really walking UP the hill, but DOWN it.  
"I got this one!" Mya said. "We just have to turn around and walk backwards! Like the last challenge!"   
"I don't know," Grundy said. "Why would the Magician Humfrey make two challenges the same?"  
"They're not the same. That was water, this is hill," Mya explained, having figure this out already. Shrugging, Grundy turned around, and tried to walk up the hill. Mya and followed suit.   
Unfortunately, it didn't work. When the stopped walking, they were still at the bottom on the hill.  
"Uh…" Mya said dumbly. She thought she'd had it!  
Luckily, Steph came to her rescue. "I got it!" she said. "It's so obvious! It's the reverse of the other challenge! It's not HOW we walk, but WHO we walk!" She seemed to have it, but Mya and Grundy were a little confused.  
Steph explained further. "Ok, it's not walking forwards, and it's not walking backwards. So it must be the order the people who are walking up the hill are in. We already tried Grundy, Mya, Steph, and that was wrong. So let's try Grundy, Steph, Mya." The logic made a little more sense when she put it that way. They tried climbing the hill. And failed.  
"Hmm…there must be more logic to it. Let's see…Grundy is the shortest, and Mya is the tallest. So maybe Mya has to go first, and then me, and then Grundy. Tallest to shortest." The others nodded in agreement, not knowing what else to do. Mya got in front of the line, and led the others up the hill.  
She led the others up the hill! It had worked! "Good job, Steph!" she exclaimed happily! "Only one challenge left!" In their ecstatic mood, the girls ran on ahead. Grundy had to hurry to keep up.  
He reached the two. There was a wall. Seemingly, they couldn't get around it. It was tall, and wide, and didn't seem to have any doors.  
"Maybe we have to say a secret word," Mya said. "OPEN SESAME!" she yelled. Nothing happened.  
"Maybe we have to hit a secret brick," Steph suggested. She set about touching different bricks, but nothing happened.  
The girls sat down, each thinking. Grundy just watched them. He didn't really have any good ideas, anyway. And he wasn't supposed to help them too much, regardless. So he sat down too, and let them think.  
Suddenly, lightbulbs appeared on top of Mya and Steph's heads. "That's it!" they said in unison. "I solved the first challenge…" Mya said.  
"And I solved the second…" Steph said.  
"So we have to solve the third together!" they said at the same time. They grinned. Grundy didn't really understand, but who really understands women?  
"Ok, so when I solved the first challenge, we had to do it backwards. So let's all stand backwards," she said. Standing up, everyone did so.  
"And my challenge was solved when we got in a certain order. So Mya, you go over there, and I'll stand beside you. Grundy, you stand besides me." They got in the proper order.   
"Now, let's say the password, and touch the wall!" the girls said together. Backing towards the wall, the three yelled, "OPEN SESAME!" and touched their hands to the wall. Unknown to them, all they had to do was figure out the proper WHO and HOW, but the little extra bit never hurt anyone.  
As they touched the wall, they felt it dissolve under their fingers. Well, it felt like it was dissolving. Really it was them who were de-materializing. They passed right through the wall, and ended up on the other side.   
"We're in!" Mya said, smiling stupidly, and doing a little dance.  
"Rock on, we rule!" Steph said, smiling similarly. They gave each other a high five. Of course, Grundy didn't really know what a high five was, but he supposed that was one.  
"Let's get going!" Mya said excitedly. "We're so close!!" Affected by her excitement, the others ran towards the door. Steph reached up to knock. They were here! They made it to the Castle!  
************************************************************************ 


	3. A Minor Setback

A Minor Setback  
  
Mya and Grundy waited in anticipation. Just as Steph's hand was about to hit the door, everyone blinked. When their eyes opened, they were back beyond the moat.   
"Hey, what happened!?" Mya exclaimed. "Steph, what did you do?"   
"I didn't do anything!" Steph said back. "I was just going to knock on the door, and the next thing I knew, we were back out here!"   
"This is crap! We got past the challenges!" Mya said angrily. Steph looked just as pissed.   
"Umm...excuse me, girls," Grundy pipped up. "I think I know what's going on. Kind of." Mya and Steph quickly walked over to Grundy, who was holding a piece of paper in his hands. "Read this," he said.   
  
The letter read:   
  
"Dear Sorceresses,   
I must apologize for my actions. I was...distracted...at the time of your entry. As thus, I was not adequately prepared for your arrival. The challenges you conquered, although tailored for you, were not sufficient for your skill level. As such, I'm afraid I must have you go through the challenges again. Many apologies.   
-Your Good Magician,   
Humfrey"   
  
"But what does he mean, Sorceresses?" Grundy asked. "Aren't you two just ordinary players in the game? How did you manage to catch the Good Magician unaware??" Poor Grundy was thoroughly confused.   
"I guess we may as well tell him," Mya said. "I have a feeling we're going to need to use our talents for these next challenges anyway."   
"Yeah, I think you're right," Steph said. "There's no point in hiding it anymore." Mya nodded   
"Ok, so let's do it. Grundy...Steph and I have something to tell you. We're not really who you think we are."   
"I think he figured that much out on his own," Steph said. She laughed. Mya glared at her.   
"I was just building up the suspense! Jeez."   
"Um, girls, if I could interject?" Grundy said. "I really am in suspence right now. Could someone tell me what's going on?"   
Mya and Steph laughed. "Sorry Grundy!" they said.   
"Ok," Mya started. "First off, she's Steph."   
"And she's Mya," Steph said.   
"And we're Sorceresses!" they said together.   
A little steam cloud appeared on top of Grundy's head. "LISTEN, BIRDBRAINS, I ALREADY GATHERED THAT MUCH!"   
"Eep, simmer down, Grundy! We were getting there," Mya said. "So anyway, you're probably wondering how two Mundane girls could be Sorceresses." Grundy nodded. "Well, I'll start by telling you what our talents are, and then Steph can give you the backround. How's that?" Again Grundy nodded, getting impatient. "Well, first, I'll tell you that our talents are kinda the same, but kinda opposite." This didn't do anything to ease Grundy's confusion, but he let her carry on. "Stephs talent is-" Just then, a dragon swooped down on them, cutting off Mya's sentence.   
"Holy shit, where did that come from?" Steph exclaimed.   
"It's not a ship at all!" Grundy said. "It's a dragon! And it's not holy either! I think it's your next challenge." As a Companion, he was privvy to this sort of information.   
Mya and Steph looked at each other and laughed. "Should I take this one?" Mya asked.   
"Oh yeah," Steph said. "Hope you're not too rusty!" The girls turned towards the dragon. It landed, and turned into a human. Mya stalled.   
"Prince Dolph! What are you doing here?" Grundy asked, shocked.   
"I'm here as a challenge," Dolph answered. "The Good Magician called in a favour."   
"But...but...you're a Magician! You're too strong for these girls!"   
Dolph looked serious. "On the contrary. These are two Sorceresses. I highly doubt that I can beat them." Grundy was too shocked to speak. "Shall we begin, ladies?" Mya and Steph nodded. They were ready to start!   
Dolph turned back into a dragon. He took a step towards them, and- wait! He wasn't in the same place anymore. How did that happen? Well, he wasn't about to let that stop him. He stared walking forward again- only to discover he was back ten steps! How was this possible?  
"Hehehe…having some trouble, Prince?" Mya teased.  
This of course angered Dolph. He opened his mouth, ready to breath fire at the girls. Just as he was unleashing his breath, he discovered he wasn't looking at them anymore. He was backwards! Confused, he relented for the moment.   
"Almost too easy!" Mya said, grinning. "That was fun!"   
"Yeah! We rule!" Steph said. They gave each other high five.   
Dolph, having only been told he was dealing with Sorceresses, wasn't sure what was going on. But he wasn't ready to give up yet! He started flapping his wings, ready for an airborne assault. He pumped them for liftoff. Just as he was beginning to fly, he found himself back on the ground. Angrily, he whomped towards them, only to find himself not getting any closer. Frustrated, he stopped trying, and turned back into a human.   
"Very well. It appears you have overpowered me in this form. I'd like to try another. But, would you mind telling me what your talents are?" Prince Dolph asked.   
Mya looked at Steph, who looked back at her. "I guess we should tell him. He IS a prince, after all."   
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Steph said. "Ok, Dolph, Mya is the Sorceress of-"   
"No time for that!" a new voice interjected. "Your next challenge is here." The voice paused for a moment. "Oh yeah, Dolph, you're wanted back at the castle. Electra says there are...umm...Eve and Dawn need cleaning, and she says it's your turn."   
Dolph turned red. "Well, I guess I should be on my way," he muttered. Then he turned into a roc and flew away.   
"Hello, Sorceress Mya, and Sorceress Steph. I'm your next challenge-"   
"Hi Magician Gray!" Grundy interrupted. "Great to see you!"   
"Uhh...yes. That's right. I'm the Magician of Nullification. I can nullify your powers." He seemed quite sure of his ability to overtake the two.   
"I got this one!" Steph said. They both started laughing.   
Confused, Gray was caught unaware. He was unable to start concentrating on nullifying their abilities, (which he also wasn't quite aware of what they were. Magician Humfrey always seemed to leave the important parts out), when he found himself blindfolded. And gagged. And then, he was sitting in a chair. Then he was tied to it. Some strange device was attached to his head, and music started playing out of it. What magic was this?   
"Can't nullify us anymore!" Mya laughed.   
"Yeah, I'd like to see him try!" Steph grinned back.   
"Do you think we should go further, though? Just to make sure?" Mya asked.   
"Naw...it'll take him long enough to figure out what the discman is! By the time he starts trying to nullify us, we'll be back in the castle! After all, he doesn't know what our talents are, so it'll take him longer."   
Mya, agreeing with this logic, nodded. "Well, let's go on, then!" She and Steph started towards the castle. Grundy, too dazzled to do much of anything, followed along slowly.   
"Sorry, Gray!" he called as an afterthought. Gray was safe enough here, by the Good Magician's Castle, and he was the girls' Companion, after all. He had to go with them, even if he didn't know what was going on. He caught up to the girls. They had stopped in front of an older looking man. It was the Evil, or rather, no longer evil, Magician Murphey. That was Gray's dad! He saw fit to tell the girls that.   
"That's the Magician Murphey! It's Gray's dad!" he called. "He gives out curses! Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong, when you're around him!"   
The girls didn't look worried at all. Mya, in particular, looked fine. "I know what to do with him!" she said excitedly. "I've been thinking about this for some time now!" She whispered something in Steph's ear. Steph grinned. Apparently, she liked the idea, too.   
"Ok, Murphey, do your worst!" Steph said.   
"Very well," Murphey agreed. Just as he was about to throw was Grundy guessed would be his worst curse ever, a piece of wood appeared in his hand. What was that? Grundy wondered. The curse was thrown at Mya and Steph. But they were smiling.   
"You failed, girls," he said. "Murphey's curse hit you."   
"Wrong!" Mya said happily. "You don't mean Murphey's curse, you mean his-"   
"Blessing!" Steph finished. The two smiled at each other.   
"But...how?" Grundy asked, confused.   
"I can answer that," Magician Murphey interjected. He held up the wood in his hand. "Reverse wood," he explained. "When it appeared in my hand, it reversed my magic, turning my curse into a blessing. They've beaten me, too."   
"But, how did they get reverse wood?" Grundy asked, perplexed. He just couldn't figure out what was going on!   
"That's not for me to explain," Murphey said. "Besides, I don't fully know myself. But the girls have been stalled enough- they will be allowed to entre the castle now." As he gestured behind him, Steph and Mya saw that the drawbridge had been lowered. They would be allowed to just walk right in!   
"I must be going," Magician Murphey said. "Best of luck on your journey." Of course, they would have it now, since he had blessed them. Then he turned and started walking away.   
"Can you please tell me what's going on now?" Grundy pleaded. He was just about at wit's end!   
"No time for that now!" Mya said excitedly. "We can go into the castle!" And then she started running towards the drawbridge. Steph was right on her tail, er, her posterier. Grundy, sighing, followed. He hadn't expected it would be like this to be a Companion! Boy, was he confused. Well, at least they'd made it to the castle!   
  
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	4. The Question DOT DOT DOT and the Answer?

The Question...and the Answer?  
  
  
  
They reached the door that led to inside. Steph reached to knock, but Mya stopped her. "Let me do it this time," she said, half-jokingly. Rolling her eyes, Steph let Mya knock.  
The door opened, and a pretty young woman was standing there. She had soft brown hair, and a nice dress that matched her hair perfectly. Her eyes, strangely, were pink.  
"Hello," the woman said. "I am Wira, Humfrey's daughter-in-law. I'm so glad you could make it," she smiled.  
"Umm…hi," Mya said. "I'm Mya, and this is Steph. And over there is Grundy."  
"Pleased to meet you," she said, smiling again. "Do come in. The Gorgon will have a snack ready while you wait."  
Although not too pleased at having to wait, Mya and Steph realized that they were in fact quite hungry. "Thanks!" they both said, following Wira into the castle. Grundy followed along behind.  
She led them through a few hallways, stepping lithely. Mya remembered her pink eyes. What was the significance of them? But she had little time to think, as Wira soon stopped, and the rest of the party came to a halt.  
"Mother," Wira called sweetly. "Are you veiled? We have visitors."   
Steph was a bit confused by this. Veiled? Mya remembered that Wira had said Gorgon, and knew that her gaze could petrify them. "Yes, dear. You can bring them right in." Wira started walking again, and the three followed. Soon they entered a room that must have been the kitchen. Standing there was a beautiful woman. Her face could convince the most happily married man to throw it all away. She had a perfect figure and her hair…well, it was made of snakes, that must entice the men, too.  
Mya did a double take. "Wait!" she said. Everyone turned and looked at her, except Wira, who just looked in her general direction. "How can we look at your face? Shouldn't we all be stone?" She was quite concerned.  
The Gorgon just smiled. "Do not fret, dear. I had my husband make my face invisible, and then use a spell to put a false replica back on. You are in no danger of being turned to stone." Mya breathed a sigh of relief. "Now please, sit, and have some refreshments while you wait."   
Obligingly, Mya, Steph, and Grundy sat down. Wira, too, took a seat. The Gorgon brought them gorgon-zola, her specialty, punwheels, which were cookies, and tsoda popka to drink.   
"I know you should be having a healthier snack, but this is somewhat of a celebration," she said with a smile.  
"What's a celebration?" Steph asked through mouthfuls of food.  
"Why, your being here, of course." The Gorgon smiled knowingly, but said no more. "Now please, rest and enjoy your snack. Humfrey will see you soon. I do apologize, but I have other chores to do. As much as I would like to stay and chat…" she trailed off wistfully.  
"Do not be sad, Mother," Wira said comfortingly. "I'm sure they will come back for a visit."  
  
  
"Of course we will!" Mya said, taking the bait. "Especially if we get delicious cheese and cookies like this every time!"   
The Gorgon smiled at the compliment. "Thank you, dear. But I fear that you will not end up visiting me, but another of Humfrey's five and a half wives." She brightened up. "Of course, we do get a lot of time to talk in our off-time. So if you visit one of them, I will hear all about it. I suppose I should be on my way." Content, she went off to do her other chores with a little wave.  
"She was nice," Mya said.  
"And a good cook!" Steph added.  
"But what was that about five and a half wives?" Mya asked the question that both she and Steph were wondering.  
"I can answer that," Wira said helpfully. "You see, Humfrey is a very old man. He has married five times. And he also has one more true love, whom he never married. One at a time is allowed to visit him, while the others reside in…" here she paused, and blushed. "In…Hell." Obviously a sweet girl like her wasn't much accustomed to using such words.  
"Oh, I get it. So they take turns living with him," Steph said.  
"Yes, that is how it works," Wira said with a smile. Mya and Steph really liked her.  
Soon enough, they finished up their snack. They carried their dishes to the sink. The mess cleaned up, Wira said, "I shall take you to Humfrey now. Please follow me."  
Steph and Mya were eager to see him, so they followed right behind Wira.   
She led them up a dark staircase. Here, Mya stalled. Steph had no problem, nor did Grundy, but Mya had never been too fond of the dark. Apparently Wira sensed her hesitation.   
"Oh, I apologize!" she said sincerely. "I sometimes forget that others are not like me, and need the light." She touched the wall, and it lit up, all the way up the stairs. "Is that better?" she asked.  
"Yes, thank you," Mya said, appreciating it. They started back up the stairs. And Mya figured out the mystery of Wira's pink eyes- she was blind. But she knew her way around the castle so well. It was remarkable!  
Soon they reached the top. Wira led them through a door, and into a room. It was a fairly big room, with books and potions and all kinds of things scattered around everywhere. In the middle of the room sat a small man, almost gnome-like, hunched over a book.   
"There is Humfrey," Wira said, standing beside the door. Apparently she would wait for them there.  
"Thanks," Mya said. Then she, Steph, and Grundy walked towards the Good Magician.  
"You ask him," Mya said.  
"No, you ask him!" Steph said.  
"Wait, what are we asking him?" Mya asked Steph.  
"Uhh…I don't know! I thought you did!" Steph answered.  
"What's wrong, girls?" Grundy whispered. "He's waiting!"  
  
  
"We don't know what to ask!" they whispered back in unison.  
"Well, you have to pay a year's service for this Answer, so you better figure out your Question!" Grundy said.  
"A year's service?!" they both asked, shocked. "You never told us about that!"  
"Oops," was Grundy's reply.  
All of their thoughts were interrupted by a grumpy voice. "Oh, get on with it!" Humfrey said. "You're cluttering up my room! Now listen, you don't know what your Question is, but I know what the Answer is. And you won't be paying the year's service to me, you'll be fetching an object that I require. So if you'd shut up and listen, it would all go faster, and you could leave me alone." Mya and Steph stopped talking, quieted by his Voice of Authority.  
"You must bring me what neither of you can acquire," the Good Magician said. Then he turned, and went back to his reading.  
"But how can we get it if we can't acquire it?" Mya asked. Humfrey ignored her.   
"And how does that Answer our Question?" Steph asked. Humfrey ignored her too. They both sighed. Apparently, that was all the Answer they were going to get. Residing, they walked over to Wira.  
"Do not worry," she said calmingly. "Often his Answer's are hard to decipher, and do not seem satisfactory. But he knows what he is doing. I'm sure you will both be left happy. And if it's any consolation, that was probably the most he's said to anyone in years! You must be truly special." Mya and Steph weren't too sure that this Answer would help them, but they did appreciate the compliment, and didn't say anything. There was no reason to take their frustrations out on this helpful, sweet girl.   
They followed Wira back down the staircase, and through hallways. Soon enough they were at the door leading out.   
"Here we are," Wira said.  
"Thank you," Mya and Steph said together. "We really appreciate everything you've done."  
"You're welcome," Wira said kindly. She was smiling. "I do hope you come back to visit. There will be no Challenges if you have no Question."  
"I'm sure we will," Mya said. The conversation now done, Wira turned and went back. She probably had other things to do, too.  
"Well, this is it," Mya said, stepping through the door. "The start of our adventure."  
"Let's get going," Steph said, following her.  
"Hey, wait for me!" Grundy yelled, running to keep up. "My legs aren't as long as yours!"  
It was the start of an adventure, all right. And for better or worse, they were in it together.  
  
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	5. Into the Gourd

Into the Gourd  
The trio had been traveling for about half a day now, not going anywhere in particular. Mya and Steph had been avoiding the issue of the indecipherable Answer, and had told Grundy to just lead them around the safe parts of Xanth. Really, they weren't going anywhere at all. And poor Grundy still didn't know who they were.   
"Hey, girls, why don't we sit down and take a break?" Grundy suggested. He was still really curious about who they were, and truth was, he was getting hungry!  
Mya and Steph stopped walking. They exchanged glances with one another. Then they both nodded. "Ok, Grundy. We'll take a little break," Mya said.  
They all sat down under an umbrella tree. It wasn't really necessary, since it wasn't raining, but it looked safe, and provided them with shade from the sun. Mya picked three pillows from a pillow-tree, and they were sitting on those. It was quite comfortable.  
"Ahh, this is nice," Mya sighed.  
"Yeah, it's pretty comfy," Steph agreed.  
"Now all we need is some food," Mya added. They both looked at Grundy. He sighed.  
"I guess you want ME to go get the food," he said. They nodded. "Well, I guess I have to, since I'm your Companion." Reluctantly, he got up and walked a little ways off. He had spotted a pie-tree on their way over, and thought that would be suitable to snack from.  
"Hey, what's that?" Mya said, pointing at a shell-looking thing, a little ways off.  
"I dunno!" Steph said, "but it's pretty cool looking!"  
"Wanna go check it out?" Mya asked.  
"Damn right I do!" Steph answered.  
So they walked over to the (what they now realized was a patch), of these shell-type things. It wasn't too far, but it was a fair distance. There were a variety of shapes and sizes.  
"Hey look!" Mya said excitedly. "They have little holes in them!"   
"Should we look inside?" Steph asked curiously.  
"Sure! Why not!" Mya answered, just as curious. So they both knelt down, and put their eye to the peephole of one of the things.  
Suddenly Mya found herself in a graveyard! How had she gotten here? She looked around, and all she could see was graves. Graves upon graves upon graves. It was dark, and where she couldn't see graves, she could see mist. That was it. Mya shivered, and sat down. She didn't like this place at all. And she was alone. Where was Steph?  
  
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Steph blinked, and found herself surrounded by statues. Everywhere around her were little brass statues. Well, actually, they weren't that little. In fact, they were the same size as she was! They reminded her of the suits of armour that palaces and stuff had. But where was Mya? She shrugged it off. This place was cool! She walked forward. It was time to explore!  
  
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Grundy selected a few pies that he thought the girls would like. He got a blueberry one, a yellowberry one, and a redberry one. That should be enough, he thought, satisfied. He nodded and gave himself a little mental pat on the back, then started back to the umbrella tree.  
"Hey noodlenoggins!" he called. "I got us some pie! And there's a milkweed bush right there that we can drink from. Noodlenoggins?" Grundy looked around. Where were Steph and Mya? He had a panic attack. (Literally. A little panic bug started flying around his face, making him panic) He was the girls' Companion! He wasn't supposed to let bad stuff happen to them! And despite his better judgment, he was really starting to like them.  
He did a quick survey of the area. Where could those two have gotten? Off to his right a little ways off was a gourd patch, and beside that was just some trees- wait! A gourd patch! Oh, Grundy hoped they hadn't stumbled into there! He ran over to it.  
Sure enough, there were Mya and Steph. Both were laying on the ground, eye to a peephole. Grundy knelt down and put his hand in front of Mya's face, then Steph's, breaking contact.  
  
Mya blinked. She was out of the scary graveyard! She was so happy she could kiss someone! So she did. "Oh, thank you Grundy!" she exclaimed, hugging him and giving him a kiss. "That place was awful!" Grundy blushed.  
Steph, on the other hand, didn't look quite so happy. "Why'd you pull me out?" she asked. "I was having fun exploring that castle!"  
Mya gave her a strange look. "Castle? What castle? All that was down there was a graveyard! And boy, was it scary! Why would you want to stay there?"  
"There's no graveyard!" Steph argued. "It was a castle!"  
"Graveyard!"  
"Castle!"  
"Graveyard!!"  
"Castle!!"  
Grundy decided to intervene before this got more serious, and progressed to capital letters. "Um, girls, I can explain," he said. "You see, you looked into hypnogourds, or gourds, as we call them. When you look into one, you can't get back out, unless your gaze is broken by something. And everyone sees a different scene when they go into a gourd. So that's why Mya saw a horrible graveyard," indeed, she still looked shook up, "and Steph saw a castle. Understand?"  
Settling down, both girls nodded. "Thanks for saving me then, Grundy," Steph said.  
  
Mya nodded. "I really, really appreciate it."  
Grundy blushed, and looked down. Apparently he wasn't too good at taking compliments. "It's no problem," he muttered. "I'm just sorry I let you girls walk into here. This patch is so overgrown, I didn't even know it was here!" Without a doubt, there were many gourds here, twisting around one another. It was quite the sorry site.  
"Don't worry about it, Grundy. We shouldn't have wandered off in the first place," Mya said. "Speaking of wandering off, where did Steph go?"  
Grundy moaned. "Not again!" he said.   
"Guys! I'm over here!" Steph called.   
Grundy breathed a sigh of relief. He and Mya walked over to where Steph was calling from. "What'd you find?" Mya asked, her curious nature perking up.  
"I think it's a shoe!" Steph said. "And…it's attached to a leg!" Indeed, the shoe was attached to a leg. "I think it's a girl! She's buried under all these gourds! Help me dig her out."  
"Uhh…I don't know if that's such a good idea," Grundy started to warn. But it was too late. Both Mya and Steph were already on their hands and knees, moving gourds away. Soon enough, they had unburied the girl. She was about 5'6, laying down, and had long brown hair. It was splayed across her back and over some of the ground. She was wearing what Grundy guessed had been at one time a nice dress, but it was now in tatters around her body. She must have been here quite a long time!   
Beside her, oddly enough, was a little body. Grundy figured it was about the size of an elf, which was pretty small. But it wasn't an elf. At least, not as much as he could figure. It had pointy ears atop its head, and instead of hands, it had…flippers? And it had short stubby legs, with wide, flat feet. But aside from that, it mostly resembled an elf. Grundy wondered what it was. He didn't have much time to wonder, however, as the girls were getting into more mischief already.  
"Look, she's got purple eyes!" Mya exclaimed.  
"That's not purple, it's violet!" Steph argued.  
"Same difference!" Mya stuck out her tongue. "They're neat looking, all the same!"  
"Oxy- moron," Grundy muttered. These girls sure were a handful.  
"Well, let's wake her up!" Steph suggested.  
"Ok!" Mya said, reaching her hand around to the front of the girls face.  
"I'll wake up this thing!" Steph said, doing the same to the small creature beside her.  
"NO!" Grundy yelled. But he was too late. Both girl and creature had been awakened. Why did no one ever listen to him until it was too late?  
  
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	6. Another New Sorceress?

Another New Sorceress?  
Mya watched as the girl blinked. "Hi, I'm Mya. What were you doing in a gourd?" she started to say, trying to help the girl up. But suddenly a look of anger took over the girl's face, and she pushed Mya away with a strong shove.  
"Hey, what was that for?" Steph said angrily. "We were only trying to help."  
"More illusions!" the girl muttered, her eyes darting back and forth. Suddenly she lunged at Steph, grabbing her arm. Then she rolled back to Mya, and bit her.  
"OW!" Mya screamed, rubbing her arm. "That hurt!"  
"Think we should teach her a lesson?" Steph asked.  
"Damn right we should!" Mya answered, her brows furrowing.  
Steph and Mya stood up side by side, to face the girl who was now a few steps away.  
"Hey, you!" Mya called. The girl turned around. "Where do you think you're going?" Then Mya lifted her arm, invoking her talent. Nothing happened. A look of pure shock and confusion came over Mya's face. "What's going on?! My talent's broken!!" She tried again. "It's not working!!" Now she was really panicking.  
"Don't worry! I'll take care of her!" Steph said reassuringly. "Why don't you have a seat!" she taunted the girl, using her own talent. Nothing happened. Steph got a little worried. "I SAID, why don't you have a seat!!" She concentrated really hard this time, even using an extra exclamation mark for emphasis. But nothing happened. "Oh my God, my talent is broken too!" Steph screamed.  
"OH MY GOD!!!" they both wailed. Grundy could tell they were REALLY upset, because not only were they speaking in capitals, they had used THREE exclamation marks. He knew this fighting wasn't a good idea, and decided he'd better make a move to split it up.  
"Hey, girls-" he started, but was rudely interrupted.  
"Well, I guess we'll have to attack her physically!" Mya said. "That *!%#* bit me, so we'll bite her!!"  
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Steph agreed. The two started walking towards the girl. They got about halfway there, before a small creature got in their way. It was the little thing from the other gourd! They had forgotten about it. It looked so sad, they just had to stop and pet it.  
"Aww, don't be sad, little guy. It's ok," Mya soothed.  
"Don't worry. It'll be alright," Steph added.  
To their surprise, the other girl was kneeling down too. "It's ok, Guinever," she murmured. The little creature smiled.  
Steph and Mya exchanged glances. They were both thinking the same thing. This would be the perfect time to attack the girl!  
Luckily, Grundy intervened. "Hello, my name is Grundy. You were in a gourd, but we rescued you. What's your name?" he asked the girl. He sent Warning Glances to Mya and Steph. The glances were so strong that the two sat back, deterred.  
The girl looked confused. "A…gourd?" A dim little light bulb appeared above her head. "Yah, I remember a gourd! But… how do I know I'm really out? It's been a long time!"  
"Well, why don't you try pinching yourself?" Grundy suggested.  
The girl shook her head. "No, that won't work. I've been living in the world of nightmares. Pinching yourself doesn't wake you up."  
Grundy puzzled over this. Of course the girl was right. So how could he prove to her that he wasn't lying before she got hostile again?  
"Well, look around!" Mya interrupted his thoughts. "There are gourds lying everywhere, right? Look, there's the one you came from. How can you be in it and out of it at the same time?"  
The girl looked at the gourd. Her gaze went towards the peephole. "No!" Grundy yelled, pulling her away from it. She blinked twice.  
"Alright. I can see that you're telling me the truth. Thanks for saving me!" Now that she believed she wasn't in a gourd, she seemed amicable enough.  
"Sure. But why did you attack us before?" Mya asked, skeptical.   
The girl got a serious look. "If you had lived in a gourd for 13 years, seeing nothing but bad dreams every day, wouldn't you attack everything you saw, too?"  
Mya remembered the grave yard she had seen. "I guess you're right." Then she got a light bulb. "Wait- did you just say 13 years?"   
The girl nodded. "It's been about that long, yah. I grew up in the gourd. I'm sorry about attacking you, though. And I really am thankful. I wish I could return your talents to you."  
"Did you just say our talents?!" Steph asked.  
The girl looked at her strangely. "Is there some sort of miss spell around here? You both seem to miss- understand or miss-hear what I say. Yeah, I did say your talents."  
"Well, what about them?" Mya asked impatiently. "Why did you say you wish you could give them back?"  
"Oh, that's right. You don't know. Well, I'm a Sorceress. I can take other people's talents. All I have to do is touch you, and invoke my talent, and your talent is mine."  
"Whoa, that's a strong talent!" Mya said. "But we really need our own talent's back. You see, we're Sorceresses too. But we're pretty much useless without our talents."  
The girl nodded. "When I got your talents I knew you were Sorceresses. You have really strong magic yourselves! But I can only take talents- I can't give them back." This of course made the girls mad, because they'd seemingly lost their talents, and it made Grundy mad, too. Why couldn't the girl have said what exactly Mya and Steph's talents were?  
"Well, there must be a way to get our talents back," Steph said. She and Mya, and the girl, all starting thinking. Grundy joined in too, not wanting to be left out of the thought bubbles.  
Steph was the first on to get a light bulb. "I got it!" she exclaimed. "It's just like before, when we used the reverse wood with Magician Murphey! If…uhh…" Steph paused. "I'm sorry, but I don't know your name," she said.  
"Oh!" the girl blushed. "I should've told you before. I'm Lyndsey."  
Steph nodded. "Ok. So if Lyndsey here uses her talent with reverse wood, we should get our talents back!" She smiled, pleased with herself.  
"Hey, you're right!" Mya said excitedly. "Good thinking, Steph!"  
"But how are you going to get reverse wood?" Grundy asked. Apparently he had been kicked out of the bubbles without being asked. And now, he was being ignored.  
"Oh, good idea!" Lyndsey exclaimed. A piece of reverse wood appeared in her hand. She pointed at Mya, and she felt the magic returning to her body. Then, she pointed at Steph, and she felt the same.  
"Ahh, much better," Mya said. Steph nodded, sharing the sentiment.  
"I say we try out our talents, just to make sure they're working," Steph suggested. Mya nodded in agreement. They had just gotten their talents back, after being in Mundania for so long, and it was too soon for them to be taken already.  
Mya lifted her arm and pointed. Steph concentrated. Nothing happened.   
"What's going on!?" they both shrieked, a swarm of panic bugs around their head.   
"Uhh…maybe I gave you the wrong talents. Let me take them back and I'll try again," Lyndsey suggested. She put down the reverse wood.  
"Oh. Ok." Steph and Mya both let Lyndsey touch their arms, and take their talents back. Then she picked up the reverse wood, and returned their talents.  
Suddenly the reverse wood was gone, and a gourd was floating by Grundy's head. He was so confused! What was going on? Possibly, the reverse wood had expended its power and disappeared, but why was the gourd flying? Then, the gourd wasn't floating anymore. Grundy rolled his eyes.   
"Much better!" Steph said.  
"Yep!" Mya agreed. They both smiled.  
"Sorry about all that," Lyndsey apologized. "And thanks again for saving me from the gourd!"  
"Don't worry about it," Mya said.  
"And you're welcome!" Steph finished. They all sat quietly now, not sure of what to do. Grundy decided to take the lead.  
"Why don't we all go back to the umbrella tree, and we can eat the pies I gathered? We can camp there tonight, and share our stories with each other. I know I'm curious to find out how Lyndsey ended up in a gourd for 13 years." And what Mya and Steph's talents were, he said mentally  
"Sounds like a good idea to me!" Mya said. She started back towards the umbrella tree, Steph following her. Then Lyndsey, shrugging, followed. Next was the little creature, that everyone had forgotten about. Grundy sighed. He was last, as usual. But at least he was going to figure out what was going on!  
  
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	7. Long Forgotten Stories

Long Forgotten Stories  
As soon as they reached the umbrella tree, everyone started eating. Grundy had picked some very good pies, and they hadn't really realized how hungry they were. There were also milk pods from a milkweed plant to drink. It was a pretty good meal.  
"Mmm," Mya said. "I really like this redberry pie!!"  
"I like the blueberry," Steph said.  
"Well, I like the yellowberry!" Lyndsey said. They all laughed. Grundy just sighed. He really didn't understand women!  
Once they were finished eating, they stretched out on the pillows. Mya had gotten a few more on their way back over. Now there were plenty enough for all.  
Grundy couldn't wait any longer. "Let's tell stories now!" he blurted out. Lucky for him, the girls were, well, girls.  
"Oh yeah!" Mya exclaimed. "Stories!"  
"Awesome!! Can I tell mine first?" Lyndsey asked excitedly.  
"Sure!" Steph answered. Grundy was secretly a little disappointed that he wouldn't be finding out what Mya and Steph's talents were just yet, but he WAS curious about Lyndsey, and he'd waited this long, so what was a little while longer?  
"Ok! So my story starts about 13 years ago, when I was a little girl. I lived right beside the…beside the…well, beside somewhere. It makes people forget about it, because it has a forget spell on it. Well anyway, it made everyone forget about me. Except my parents, of course. So all I did everyday was run around, and play. But it was kinda lonely, playing all by myself. So one day, I decided to go find a friend."  
"That was probably when all my troubles started. But I'll start at the beginning. I waited until both of my parents were busy, and then I snuck off into the forest. I didn't really know where I was going, but I was going, and that was enough."  
"I met a whole bunch of strange animals. But none of them wanted to be my friend. I was getting discouraged, until I met Guinever." Here she paused, and smiled. Then she picked up Guinever before continuing. "Guinever was just as confused as I was. He's a penguin/elf crossbreed. His parents met at a love spring. But as soon as that wore off, they both hated each other. And neither of them wanted Guinny. So he was all alone, just like me!"  
"We became friends, fast. Guinny even helped me find out what my talent is, which is strange, for a 3 year old. The first talent I ever stole was from a Yak. They talk a lot. So, I learned how to talk." She paused again. "Too bad Yaks don't really have a good vocabulary. By good I mean…proper. Like proper Xanthians."  
"Oh, don't feel bad," Mya interjected. "Steph and I don't have proper Xanthian vocabularies either!"  
Lyndsey grinned, and continued. "So Guinever and I were traveling around. Unfortunately, after I stole my first talent, someone found out about me. I'm not sure what his name was, but he wasn't too happy about my being a Sorceress. He said, 'You're just a little girl. But you're a Sorceress. A Sorceress of Talents. And I'm nothing! That's not right at all. Here, look in this,' and since I was so curious, I looked right in it. That was the gourd that you found me in. I've been there for 13 years." That was apparently the end of her story.  
"Aww, that's so sad!" Mya said.  
"Yeah, I can't believe that guy was so mean." Then, almost as if on cue, a cloud of smoke appeared. It didn't materialize into anything, but they all knew it was a demon.  
"The demon (X)(A)Nth requires a meeting with you. You will be materialized there in one day's time. In the meantime, you, drink this," he said, gesturing to Lyndsey. He held out a vile. She took it. "Drink it," he said. Afraid of the consequences if she didn't, and too afraid to ask what it was, she drank it. Then, the demon disappeared.   
They all sat in silence for a few moments.   
"That was odd," said Mya, breaking the silence.  
"Yeah, it really was," Steph agreed.  
"I wonder what I just drank," Lyndsey wondered.  
"I'm sure it wasn't anything harmful," Grundy reassured. "So, apparently you have a meeting in one day. While we wait, why don't you tell your story?" he asked Mya and Steph.   
"Yeah, sure," Mya said. She started talking. "So obviously, Steph and I aren't from Mundania. But we did end up there. You see, we used to live in this village by the Kiss-Me river. Everything was really nice there. Steph and I weren't sisters, but we were so close, that most people thought we were."   
"In fact, since we spent so much time together, and our talents were so much the same, lots of people thought we really were sisters, but the storks messed up the delivery," Steph added. She smiled at Mya, and Mya smiled back.  
"So anyway, we used to play together all the time. But we weren't always called Mya and Steph. Our names were…" she struggled, trying to remember.  
"It was…" Steph said, also unable to remember.  
"Well, I guess that's not important," Mya said. "So our talents were just developing. I, of course, being able to move all animate things, and Steph being able to move inanimate things. We're the Sorceresses of Transference!" Grundy's mouth gaped open.  
"I never realized you had such strong talents! That's amazing!" he said.  
Steph and Mya smiled. "Thanks."  
"Wow," Grundy murmured. Lyndsey, of course, already knew this, so didn't comment.  
"We were just discovering what our talents were. Steph could only move little things," Mya started.  
"Like my mom's clothespins," Steph finished, laughing. Mya laughed too. Obviously she had been a part of that memory.  
"And at the time, all I could move was myself," Mya said. "So one day, I decided to move myself out of our village. Don't ask me why. I guess it was just to cause more mischief. We did a lot of that. So I was just about to transfer myself elsewhere, when Steph toddled up. She grabbed onto my arm, and when I moved myself, my talent latched on to her too. Since I didn't have much control of my talent yet, I had no idea where we were going. Unfortunately, luck wasn't with us. We were transported to Mundania."  
"Where our talents were rendered useless," Steph said. "Luck finally caught up to us, though, and we were adopted by a nice couple. They named us Steph and Mya, which were- hey wait! I remember our names! Night and Day! My new five letter name and your new three letter one!"  
"Hey, that's right!! We can go back to using those now," Day said excitedly.   
"Awesome!" Night said.  
"Anyway, to quickly finish our story, we lived in Mundania with our foster parents for 11 years. Then, I found a game called Companions of Xanth, and here we are!"  
Grundy, still thinking about the name thing, just realized how right the names Night and Day where. Steph, or Night, had long, black hair. Night-sky black, in fact. And her eyes were silvery-grey, like star dust, or the moon seen by a child. And Day, or Mya, in contrast, had blonde hair, so bright it reminded Grundy of the sun. And her eyes were light blue, like the day-sky.   
"That was an interesting story!" Lyndsey said. "But if you're only here in a game, then…what happens when it's finished?" she asked.  
"Well…I don't know," said Day, a bit taken aback. "Maybe that's what we were going to ask the Good Magician! And he said we have to find something that neither I nor Night can acquire. So if we find that, then maybe we can stay!"  
"Yeah, but what IS that?" Night said.  
"I don't know," was Day's answer.  
"Maybe you can ask the (X)(A)Nth," Grundy suggested. But as soon as he said it, he regretted it. He knew that wasn't really a good idea.  
"Ok, what a great idea!" Lyndsey said! Night and Day nodded in agreement.  
"Maybe he'll know how to let us stay!" they both said. All the girls smiled.  
Then, Guinever waddled over. He was smiling, too.  
"Hey, I wonder if Guinever has a talent?" Mya asked.  
"Come to think of it, I don't know!" Lyndsey said. "He can't talk, and I've never really seen him do anything!" Guinever frowned.  
"Ohh, don't be sad, baby boy," Lyndsey cooed.  
"It's ok Guinever," Day said, patting his head. Guinever smiled.  
"He must have some sort of a talent," Grundy said. "Everything here in Xanth does!"   
"Yeah, but what is it?" Night asked. Guinever frowned again, obviously unhappy about not having a talent. "Aww, don't be sad, Guinever. I'm sure you have a talent!"  
"Yeah, it'll be ok!" Day said enthusiastically. "We'll figure out what it is!" Guinever smiled again.  
A huge light bulb appeared above Grundy's head, making everyone realize just how dark out it was. "I think I figured out his talent. Whenever he frowns, everyone stops what they're doing, and comforts him. If Guinever's sad, his talent is that no one can do anything until he's happy! Once he's happy again, the spell is released."  
"Hey, you're right!" Lyndsey exclaimed. "I always just thought it was 'cause he was so cute! I just can't stand to see him sad."   
"That's because it's his talent!" Day said, laughing. Everyone else joined in.  
"It's a good thing that IS his talent, or else we might have fought for longer," Night added.   
"Yeah, that's right. He did break us up the first time. Then Grundy stepped in," Day said.   
"Hooray for Guinny!" Lyndsey said smiling. Everyone else smiled too, including Guinever.  
"But…it IS getting late," Grundy said. "We really should get to bed."  
"Yeah, I'm pretty tired," Day said.  
"Me too," Night agreed. It was almost impossible to see her hair now, in the dark. But her eyes glowed. It was really quite amazing.  
"Sleepy," Lyndsey yawned. Her eyelids dropped over her violet eyes.  
"Let's settle down then," Grundy said, and they did. Day slept beside Night, and Guinever slept beside Lyndsey. Grundy slept in the middle of them, content to have finally learned the Secret of the Sorceresses Talents. He dozed off, a smile on his face.  
  
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	8. To The Underworld AKA Nothing Chapter

To The Underworld  
  
Grundy awoke in the morning when someone tapped his shoulder. "Uhh?" he said groggily. He opened his eyes slowly, and the sun burned them. Slowly, they refocused, and he saw Lyndsey standing over him, Day and Night not too far off. Guinever was still sleeping, looking cute as ever. "Wassa matter, frogface?" he muttered.  
"We need to, um…well, we need to…" Lyndsey stuttered.  
"We have to…" Day started, shifting uncomfortably. Blinking, Grundy got the message.   
"Over there," he said. "Use the toilet-trees." The girls ran off, and he sighed. It was a brand new day, but Grundy wasn't ready to start it. Sure, he was a Companion in the game, but this wasn't really like the game anymore. He was now traveling with three sorceresses! Speaking of them…  
"Ahh, much better," Day sighed. "Now all we need is some breakfast to get us going!"  
"I can get that for us!" Night said. Suddenly a few pies appeared, and some fresh fruit, and milk pods from milkweed.  
Everyone ate, including Grundy and Guinever, who had decided to rise for the occasion. It was a good meal. When they were done, they sat in an awkward silence.   
"Well…what should we do now?" Day asked, breaking the silence.  
"I dunno," Lyndsey answered. "I guess we wait for the demon X(A)(N)th to summon us."  
"Wait, did you say X(A)(N)th ? I thought it was (X)(A)Nth!" Night said, confused.  
"No, it's X(A)(N)th," Lyndsey answered. "We must have had a miss-spell on us yesterday, which cause his name to be misspelled."  
"Oh," said Night.  
"How long do you think it'll take for him to summon us?" Day asked. "I hate to wait around all day."  
"And it could very well take all day. I'm sure the demon really has more important things to do than talk to us. In fact, I wonder why he wants to talk to us at all?" Lyndsey said. She looked thoughtful.  
"Maybe we could…you know…go see our parents. I was thinking about it before, and…well, maybe it would be a good idea," Day said hesitantly. She looked around, waiting hopefully for approval.  
"Oh, I think that's a great idea!" Lyndsey said.  
"Yeah, it would be good to see our old Mom and Dad!" Night said enthusiastically.  
"I don't know…" Grundy started. But as always, it didn't matter what he thought.  
Day smiled, happy that her idea had gone over well. "I guess we should freshen up a bit first. I don't know about you guys, but my clothes are starting to smell a little funky." The others nodded, except for Grundy, who was confused again. Funky?  
"Grundy, do you know where there's a stream, and some new clothes?" Night asked.  
"Oh, sure," Grundy replied. He was still a bit dazed by some of the language, but he understood it well enough, not speaking really proper Xanthian himself. He used to be a lot more crude, until he fell in love with and married Rapunzel. "There's a stream just a little down the path. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to walk there."  
The girls looked stricken. "Well, if you don't mind, I think maybe I'll just use my talent to transport us there," Day said. "I think we're all anxious to get cleaned up." The other girls nodded.  
"Alright," Grundy said. "But I was wondering one thing. If, when you left Xanth, you could only move yourself, and Night could only move small objects, then how are you so advanced now? There's no magic in Mundania." Poor Grundy always had something to be confused about around these two.  
"Oh, that's simple enough to explain. You see, we always knew we had talents. We never forgot. So, we studied all the Mundane magic we could. There's a lot more than you think. They have false-Magicians, but the concept is still there. And they have something called science, which we also studied. Neither of us really liked it, but we knew we should," Day explained. "So when we got back to Xanth, we just applied those concepts to our magic, and it worked great!" She smiled.  
"Yeah, our studying paid off!" Night said. She was smiling too. Obviously they were both pleased with themselves.  
"That makes sense," Grundy said. He wasn't sure if it really did, but he thought the best thing to do would be to agree.   
"It sure does," Day said. "Now let's get going!" She lifted her arm up, and suddenly- Grundy blinked. He was in a different place.  
"You do that so fast!" he exclaimed. "All I did was close my eyes, and we were here!"  
Day, perhaps re-learning some of the Xanth style, bowed her head, blushed, and said, "Thank you."  
"Hey, there's the stream!" Lyndsey said excitedly, running towards it. Guinever toddled behind her.  
"Let's go!" Night called, already following. Day ran to keep up. Grundy stayed behind.  
The three girls, and one penguin/elf crossbreed reached the stream. Eager to get in, they didn't even remove their clothing. They simply jumped in, and started splashing each other. The giggles carried all the way over to Grundy, who was sitting down again. When they were all thoroughly splashed, they got out. Drenched, the walked slowly over to Grundy.  
"Did you have fun?" Grundy asked, mockingly.  
"Haha…we could use those clothes, now," Day said. All of their clothes were plastered to their skin.  
"Well, there's the clothing tree. Help yourselves," Grundy said, gesturing beside him. The girls looked up, surprised.  
"Oh, cool!" Day exclaimed.  
"I forgot that the clothes grow on trees!" Night said.  
"That's so neat!" Lyndsey added. Guinever jumped up and down beside her, sharing in the excitement. They all chose an article or two (or three), of clothing, and found a tree to change behind. This took a little bit of time, as wet clothes are difficult to remove. But the end result was worthwhile.  
Grundy blinked. He could barely believe he was seeing the same girls. Where before stood two tom-boy style girls, dressed in jeans and t-shirts, and one girl in a tattered, ragged dress, now stood three regal-looking young women.  
Day was garbed in a pale blue dress, quite the same colour as her eyes. It had a bright golden-yellow ribbon tied around the waist, which caused the dress to pinch in there, and billow out at the bottom, and be just loose enough at the top. It had the same golden colour around the neck, arms, and hem. Her shoes were a slighter darker blue colour. And she had tied her golden-yellow hair back with a blue tie, too. Grundy liked the effect.  
Night, in contrast, was wearing a dark blue dress. It was exactly the same as Day's in every detail, except for the colour. Where Day's was light blue, Nights was a rich, deep blue colour, and where Day's was golden, Nights was silver. But it had all the same contours. And Nights hair was a bit different, as she had used a ribbon to pile it up on her head. Some of it was falling out, making little wisps of hair framing her face. Grundy liked that effect, too.  
Next he looked at Lyndsey, who wasn't following suit of the two other girls. She hadn't picked a dress the same colour as her eyes. Instead, she was wearing an amber dress, that was lined with violet. It was much the same as the other two, except that where Night's and Day's had a rounded, lower cut neck, Lyndsey's had an attractive bib neck. The colour effectively intensified her looks, nicely bringing out her violet eyes. In fact, Grundy would swear that they were ultraviolet. She had also done her hair in a braid, and it was quite nice, if Grundy could say so himself. But being a married man, he couldn't.  
"Ahhh, I feel so much better now," Day sighed.  
"Me too!" Night said similarly.  
"I feel the most better!" Lyndsey exclaimed. They all laughed. Even Guinever was donning a little blue bow on his ear. Everyone seemed to be looking better. While the girls were changing, Grundy himself had also changed, but his clothes weren't exciting. Just ordinary brown trousers and a shirt. He was clean- that was enough.  
"So, where to know?" Day asked.  
"I think we should go to Lyndsey's parents first," Night suggested. "She's been gone longer."  
"That makes sense," Day agreed. "So, you wanna go there, Lyndsey?" she asked.  
Lyndsey looked pensive. "Yah. I guess it's time." Day and Night understood her hesitation. After so many years, it was hard to go back. But it had to be done.  
Mya raised her arm to transport them all to the village, when she felt her talent being overpowered. When she and the others blinked, they were in a huge cave. Looking around, they felt the presence of X(A)(N)th. They had been summoned!  
  
************************************************************ 


	9. The Brain Coral

The Brain Coral  
"Sorceress," a voiced echoed. The girls looked around. All they could see was cave walls everywhere. It was enclosed in an area that was not too big. There were also misty presences, that they all knew were demons.  
Not knowing which Sorceress he was addressing, they all answered. "Yes?" they said timidly.  
"I had to bring you here to correct a technical error. It is not that I care at all about you or Xanth, but apparently you can cause a lot of havoc on the upside world, and that cannot be allowed to happen. I do not wish to be bothered in later times by incidents you have created. So I must correct it." The figure, which the girls understood was not all of X(A)(N)th, but just a minor part, took a step towards Lyndsey. It reached one vaguely arm shaped appendage out, and touched her. Lyndsey gasped and fell to the floor. Day and Night ran to her side.  
"Are you ok Lyndsey?" Day asked worriedly.  
"What happened?" Night asked, the same concern in her voice.  
"I feel…like…half of me!" Lyndsey gasped.  
"Be glad that it is only that much," X(A)(N)th' s voice echoed. "With a talent of your magnitude, and the severity of the detachment, you could have died. It is only because you have not used your talent often that you remain as you are."  
"I'm sure she'll feel lucky in the morning," Day said sarcastically. She had gotten Lyndsey into a sitting position, and was helping her to stay up.  
Night leapt up. "What did you do to her, anyway!" she asked angrily. After her initial compassion, she remembered that she should be pissed.  
"Yeah, what DID you do to her?" Day asked, also angry. But she didn't leap up…she was still supporting Lyndsey.  
"Her talent was too powerful. I simply lessened it. Yesterday she took a spell to temporarily nullify it; today I permanently did so."  
"What do you mean by nullify? Does she have no talent anymore?" Day asked. Lyndsey shuddered.  
"Of course not. The girl still retains much of her original talent. She can just no longer take talents at will. The other being must be willing to give up their talent to her." X(A)(N)th was obviously bored with explaining these simple things to lowly mortals like themselves, because he was fading out.  
"Wait!" Night cried. "You have to tell us how we can stay in Xanth!"  
"I do not care about you," X(A)(N)th replied. "I brought you here only to solve the problem of that Sorceress." And then he was gone. Rather, they were gone. Instead of being in the chamber they were just in, they were now outside of it somewhere, in an underground hallway.  
"Well, lots of good THAT did," Day muttered.  
"I guess it's fair," Lyndsey murmured. "My talent really was too strong."  
"Don't worry," Day said. "You're still a Sorceress, I think. Just of a lesser magnitude."  
"Yeah, your talent can still be used. Like, we could give you our talents for safekeeping for a while or something, then you could give them back with reverse wood. It can work really good. Don't be sad," Night said, trying her best to cheer Lyndsey up.  
"Don't worry guys. I understand why it had to be done. They couldn't have me running around Xanth, stealing everyone's talents. Then I'd be too powerful, and everyone else would be…" she shuddered, "Mundane."  
"I have some ideas," Grundy said, speaking up. The girls looked at him, startled. They had almost forgotten about him, in all the excitement. Guinever, likewise, was standing next to Grundy. He frowned, just realizing that he was being forgotten.  
"Aww, Guinever, don't be sad," Day cooed.  
"It's ok Guinny," Night said, giving him a hug.  
"Hey, precious baby," Lyndsey said, smiling at him. She picked him up. Guinever smiled, and the spell was released.  
"So what are your ideas, Grundy?" Night asked, interested. Day and Lyndsey also turned and looked at him, curious.  
Grundy smiled. "Well, I know that the Good Magician works in mysterious ways. You three may be unaware of that, or maybe you just forgot. But it seems to me that we've already accomplished a lot on our quest. We saved a Sorceress and her strange friend, and had her power dampened so it would be acceptable in Xanth society. AND we decided to go visit your parents, which is an important task. So maybe, just maybe, we're in this cave for a reason, too."'  
The three girls pondered Grundy's reasoning. "You mean, maybe the thing that Steph can't get and I can't get could be down here somewhere?" Day asked, forgetting to use Night's new name. Understandably, she was quite distracted.  
"I'm not saying it is for sure, but it could be," Grundy said, an air of mystery in his voice.  
"Grundy, what's down here that you think we could need?" Night asked, getting frustrated.  
Grundy hesitated. "I don't think I can tell you. We ARE still in the game, technically, and I'm supposed to let you figure this kind of thing out for yourself."  
Lyndsey spoke up. "What's the point of this game, anyway? We don't seem to be following many guidelines."  
"Well, you're right about that," Grundy said. "I guess it's kind of hard to keep up with two Sorceresses who found their way into the game, and one they found while in the game. But the actual point is to solve all the mysteries to get to the final object: a magical talent."  
"Wow, you get a talent for winning the game?" Lyndsey asked, mystified. "That's great!"  
"It really is," Day interjected, "but right now we should solve THIS problem, and worry about that later."  
"She's right," Night said. "Let's get searching." Nodding, Lyndsey, still holding Guinever, tried to start walking. She stumbled a little, and Day caught her.  
"Here, give me Guinever," Night said. Lyndsey passed him to her, and Guinever smiled, happy to be the momentary centre of attention.  
"And you can hold on to my arm for balance," Day said, taking hold of Lyndsey. She did so, and they all started walking. Grundy sighed. It seemed he was going to have to run to keep up again. And this was his idea to begin with! He rolled his eyes with impatience, and starting running.  
Day looked around. All she could see was cave walls. Truth be told, she didn't like this place at all. It was too dark, and closed in. Not a nice place at all.  
"What's that?" Lyndsey said, tugging on her arm. She was pointing to a glittering stone in the wall.  
"It looks like an emerald!" Night said, reaching for it. As she was about to grab it, she stalled, waiting for Grundy to say not to. He smiled, realizing he actually was having an impact on the girls.  
"It's ok," he said. "You can take that emerald. There's a nymph down here named Jewel, and she plants all of these stones. But I'm sure she won't mind it if you take just one." Trusting him, Night pulled it out of the wall.  
"Oh, it's so beautiful!" Lyndsey exclaimed.  
"Here, you should take it," Night said, fastening the emerald around Lyndsey's neck. It sparkled, adding to the beauty of her eyes.  
"Aw, that looks so pretty!" Day said. Lyndsey smiled.  
"Thanks guys," she said. "Let's get going." They all agreed, and starting walking at a slightly slower pace, one that Grundy could easily keep up to. He smiled too.  
Suddenly, the walls starting shaking a little. Not too much, but they were definitely moving.  
"What's that?" Day asked, terrified. She already hated this place!  
"Oh, it's probably a diggle," Grundy said.  
"A diggle? What's that?" Night asked.  
"An underground animal. They tunnel through walls, and things," Grundy explained.  
"Oh! Do you think we could ride on?" Lyndsey asked. "It would really help us look around, wouldn't it?"  
"Yeah!" Day and Night exclaimed in unison, their eyes flashing.  
"Well, you CAN ride them," Grundy said. "They're pretty nice, once you get to know them. But there is one thing," he was allowed to tell them this minor detail, since Lyndsey had already solved the mystery of riding diggles.   
"What's that?" Lyndsey asked.  
"They like music. If we're going to ride on one, someone's going to have to sing to it."  
The girls cringed. Day and Night already knew they weren't great singers. Sure, they sang a lot in Mundania, but it was just for fun. Lyndsey had no real experience with singing, so couldn't be expected to sing well.  
"You'll have to decide soon. It's coming," Grundy added. Sure enough, a hole was forming in a wall to the left.  
"One of us will have to do it," Day said. "This is a perfect opportunity to search this place easily."  
"Why don't we take turns?" Lyndsey said. "Then we all have to sing."  
"That's a good idea!" Night said.  
Day nodded. "Ok, so we'll take turns. Who starts?" They all looked at Grundy. He sighed.  
  
"Why don't you do it alphabetically?" he suggested. He didn't want to be the one to choose, and that seemed like a simple enough solution.  
"That sounds ok," Night said quickly. Singing alphabetically would allow her to be the last one to sing.  
"Uh-" Day said starting to protest. But just then, the diggles head burst through the wall, followed by the rest of its long body.  
"Ew," Lyndsey said. The other girls shared her sentiment. The diggle was essentially just a big, long, worm. Its head was a little bigger, and kind of had facial features, but for the most part, it was just a big worm.  
"Hello, diggle," Grundy said. The girls didn't have time to protest. Then Grundy made some strange noises with his voice that they couldn't understand. "The diggle says he'll give us a ride," Grundy said. "Provided that you sing for him."  
They were stuck for it. Shuddering slightly, Night got on the diggle with Guinever in her arms. Taking a deep breath, Day helped Lyndsey up. Grundy hopped on happily. Apparently he had no problem with riding a worm.  
"La la la," Day started, doing a really horrible job of singing. But the diggle started moving. Apparently it wasn't picky about its music. Reassured, Day started singing a real song. Well, it was kind of real, because it came from Mundania.  
"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here, outside your doorrrrr," Day sang, horribly off key. Grundy, Guinever, Night and Lyndsey cringed, but the diggle moved faster, happily. It was enjoying its song.  
Day kept singing, and the diggle kept moving. Trying to ignore the horrid sound, everyone looked around, searching for…well, searching for something. All they could really see were cave walls, with the occasional shiny stone in them.  
Day finished her song. The diggle stopped moving. Quickly, Lyndsey starting humming. She didn't know any songs, having grown up in a world of nightmares. But the diggle accepted humming as a song, and resumed its trek.  
Still, there was nothing to be seen. They came to a branch in the cave. The diggle went right. They were thrown into darkness. Startled, Lyndsey stopped humming. Catching on, Night began singing, and the diggle didn't stop moving. It plowed through the darkness, happy in its element.   
All of a sudden the girls found themselves being jostled. The diggle was plowing through a wall! They all held on, and Night kept singing, although now it was off-key and shaky. But the diggle kept going through the wall, so apparently it liked the sound.  
They burst forth into light. It wasn't a bright light, but it was lighter than the complete darkness. Night stopped singing, and looked around with the other girls.  
They seemed to be in a new chamber. There was a stream of some sort, that flowed off into a distance they couldn't see. It was sort of translucent. Being the first interesting thing they had seen, the girls were all distracted.  
Angry that the singing had stopped, the diggle pushed them off. This was an interesting experience, as it had no legs or arms. But they were no longer on the diggle. Then it turned and burrowed itself away.  
"Oh no!" Lyndsey exclaimed. "We lost the diggle!"  
"But look what we found!" Day said, kneeling next to the water. Her blue dress reflected in its surface, and she found herself transfixed by the water.  
Hello.  
"Ahh! What was that?" Day asked, startled.   
"What was what?" Night said, looking at her funny. She came to kneel by the water with her.  
((Greetings, Sorceresses.))  
"Ahh!" Night said, now sharing Day's startle.  
"What's so interesting?" Lyndsey asked, her violet eyes flaring. She didn't like being left out any more than Guinever, who was now happy, as he had been mentioned. She came and knelt by the water, too.  
((What a find. Three Sorceresses.))  
"Ahh!!" Lyndsey screamed, slightly more frightened than the other two. In all her days in the gourd, she had never encountered anything like this.  
Grundy joined the girls. ((Hello, Golem. Good to see you)), the voice echoed.  
"Hello, Brain Coral," Grundy said. The girls stared at him, mystified. He liked the effect of having all their pretty pairs of eyes fixed on him, but of course he could never admit that.  
"I'd like you to meet the Brain Coral," he said. Now it was their turn to be confused. What was going on?  
  
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	10. Solving The Riddle

Solving the Riddle  
"The Brain Coral?" Day asked. "What's that?"  
"It's this stream here," Grundy answered.  
"Yeah, we know that," Night said, rolling her eyes. "But what IS it?"  
((I'm the Brain Coral)), the thing said.  
"Ah!" Lyndsey shrieked again. She took two steps away from the stream, and almost tripped over the bottom of her dress. She pouted.  
"Um, maybe it's best if I explain," Grundy said, seemingly talking to the Coral. He then turned to the girls. "You see, the Brain Coral is…well, it's like a storage container. People and other creatures can live in it. When they get out, it will seem to them like no time has passed. But in reality, many years, centuries even, could have passed."  
"But why would anyone want to do that?" Lyndsey asked, innocently confused.  
"Well, there was once a winged centaur named Cynthia in here," Grundy explained. "She stayed because she was the only creature of her kind, and no one wanted her. Recently she was released, and she now lives with a family of other winged centaurs."  
"I get it," Day said. "So if you're not happy with how things are, or something, you go into the Brain Coral. It'll feel like you only blinked, but when you get out, everything's different!" She was grasping the concept.  
"That's right," Grundy agreed.  
"But how is it talking to us?" Night asked, still confused.  
((I am conscious)), the Coral said. ((I am able to speak, the same as any other being.))  
"But you're not…well, you're not a thing!" Lyndsey protested. Guinever was jumping up and down beside her, caught up in the excitement.  
A giant light bulb appeared on top of Day's head. A similarly huge light bulb appeared on top of Night's head.   
"It's not animate…" Day said, her light bulb flaring.  
…and it's not inanimate!" Night finished, her bulb also glowing brightly.  
Lyndsey caught on. "It's animatedly inanimate!"  
"Or in-animatedly animate!" Day exclaimed.   
"What a mouthful!" Night said. The three of them all laughed.  
"Why don't you both try moving it?" Grundy suggested.   
"That's a great idea!" Day said. She lifted her arm, and concentrated on moving the stream. A tiny ripple appeared in the surface of the stream. But nothing else happened. "I can't move it!" Day said excitedly. This would probably be the only time that she would be happy her talent wasn't working.  
Next, Night tried. She closed her eyes, and concentrated hard. Another small ripple appeared on the surface of the water, but nothing more than that. "I can't move it either!" she squealed.   
"This must be what Humfrey meant!" Day said, her face lighting up.  
"But what do we do with it, now that we've figured it out?" Night wondered.   
"Maybe you can put some water from it in a canteen, and take it with you," Lyndsey suggested.  
  
"Great idea!" Day said. "Who has a canteen we can use?" She looked around. Night, of course didn't have one- they didn't bring anything with them when they entered the game. Lyndsey and Guinever were similarly short of belongings. She looked at Grundy last, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. He shook his head. No one had anything to carry the water in.  
((Do not be distressed)), the Coral said. ((I would not have allowed you to take water from me, even if you did have a container. Not without a price, in any case.))  
"What do you mean, a price?" Night asked.  
((I see you have a very interesting specimen with you. A penguin elf, I believe? If you left the creature with me, I would allow you to take a part of me with you.))  
"Not Guinever!" Lyndsey yelled, throwing her arms around him.  
Day and Night looked at each other. Tears were forming in their pretty eyes. Day's bottom lip quivered. "We can't let it take Guinever from her," she said sadly.  
"I know," Night said, equally distressed.  
"I'm sorry," Lyndsey said, looking truly sorry. "But I just can't give him up. It would break my heart. He's been my only friend my whole life!"  
"It's ok…we understand," Day said. "Besides, we still don't have a container, anyway."  
"Ahem," Grundy said, speaking up. "I think you need to think a little bit harder about what the Good Magician said to you."  
"What do you mean, Grundy?" Day asked. "Do you know something we don't?"  
"I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that Humfrey never gives an Answer that can't be achieved."   
"Ok…well, he told us that we have to bring him something that Night can't get, and I can't get," Day said, trying her best to listen to Grundy's advice.  
"No!" Night protested. "He said to bring him what neither of us can get."  
"Why does it matter?" Lyndsey asked, still clutching Guinever tightly.  
"It matters because you can interpret words differently," Grundy said. "Each word is very important."  
"Yeah, I guess that's right," Day said. "And Night's right- he said what neither of us can acquire."  
"So what's the difference between Night and Day can't get, and neither of you can't get?" Lyndsey asked, her face twisting cutely into a confused look.  
"Well…neither of us would mean not one or the other. I guess not Night or Day is…we just can't get it at all. I'm not making any sense, am I?" Day asked.  
"Not really," Lyndsey answered.  
"No wait!" Night said. "I think you're on to something! Listen again: not one OR the other. That just strikes me for some reason." Three sets of brows furrowed, pondering why that would stick out. Nobody was coming up with anything, until-  
"I GOT IT!" Lyndsey cried. "Not one or the other, but BOTH! You can both get it!" She was so excited that she let Guinever slip out of her arms, but her excitement had passed to him, and he was happy too.  
"What?" Day asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't get it."  
But Night had caught on. "Oh! It's like the challenges we had to go through to get into the castle! She solved the first one, and I solved the second one-"  
  
"And we solved the third one together!" Day exclaimed, having finally caught on. "Lyndsey, you're so smart!" she cried, throwing her arms around her. Night joined in, and Guinever hopped in too. Day grabbed Grundy, and it was a full-blown group hug. Lyndsey was blushing, because of the compliment. Grundy was blushing too, probably because he was being crushed by…well, he was being crushed.  
"So that's it!" Day said, splitting up the hug. "We have to do it together!" She turned to Night. "Are you ready?" Night nodded. They both raised their arms.  
((WAIT!)), the Brain Coral said. ((You can't do this!))  
Daunted by his Voice of Control, the girls looked at Grundy. "Can we do this?" they asked him, pleadingly. Grundy shrugged.  
"I think so," he said. "Try it."  
So they both raised an arm, and clasped their raised hands together. They squeezed their eyes shut, deep in concentration. At first, there was just a small ripple on the Brain Coral's surface. Then, there was a little splash. Then, a tiny wave. Finally, a bubble of the water came floating up. The girls had it!  
((Noo!)) the Brain Coral yelled. ((This isn't how it's supposed to be!))  
"Don't worry, Coral," Grundy said. "You're going to see the Good Magician! I'm sure you'll have a good time there."  
The Brain Coral looked pensive, which was a difficult thing for a body of water to do. ((Yes, I suppose I shall go willingly)), it said. Of course, it didn't' have much of a choice anymore. Not a lot can get away from two Sorceresses, especially when they have the aid of a smart little golem, and another Sorceress. The girls smiled. They had solved the riddle of their Answer!  
  
****************************************************************** 


	11. Grundy's Chapter

Grundy's Chapter  
  
"I have a confession to make," Grundy announced. Day, Night, Lyndsey, and Guinever all turned to look at him.  
"What is it, Grundy?" Day asked, concerned.  
Grundy looked down. "I'm not as big as you think I am," he said.  
The girls and Guinever all looked at one another. Not as big as they thought he was? What did he mean by that?  
"But, you're just as big as you are, Grundy!" Lyndsey said. "How could you be anything else?"  
"Well...you girls have all been really nice to me. You even lied about my having to bend down to get in the way of the gourd, and about how I was able to keep up to you by running, and you even left out how you had to pick me up so I could be included in the group hugs. You also didn't mention how you had to help me onto the Diggle." Grundy frowned.  
"Aww, its ok, Grundy," Day said comfortingly. "We only did that so you would feel better! We didn't think it was a big deal. It isn't like this story is going to get published, anyway." She smiled at him reassuringly.  
"Yeah, Grundy. We didn't want you to feel like less of a person, just because you were smaller. I mean, you're a great guy!" Night said, grinning.  
"And you were one of the first people to be nice to me!" Lyndsey said. "And nice to Guinever, too! We just wanted to help."  
"I know," Grundy said. "But just for the sake of it, I think we better tell the truth about my size from now on."  
"Well, if it's that important to you, we will," Day said. "To tell you the truth, we never really noticed you were that small!"  
"Yeah! Maybe that's why you seemed bigger," Lyndsey exclaimed.  
"If we didn't notice you were smaller, then why would you be?" Night asked.  
"I guess it's just the magic of Xanth!" Day said. "We didn't think of you as that small, so you weren't that small!"  
"Plus the writer's lame brained," Grundy added.  
"Well, I guess you're right!" Day said. "We didn't notice you were that small, so you weren't, the writer is kinda dim, and we lied in the story so you would feel better. And that's why you weren't as small as you're supposed to be."  
"That's right," Night said. "That's what happened."  
"But we'll tell the truth from now on!" Lyndsey said.  
"Thanks," Grundy said. Lyndsey leaned down to pick him up, and put him on her shoulder. "You can ride there for now, Grundy," she said, giggling. Grundy grabbed on to a piece of her silky hair. This was better than walking!  
That problem nicely taken care of, the group continued their quest.  
  
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	12. Gap Chasm

Gap Chasm  
"So," Day said, looking around. "What do we do now?" She was staring straight at the floating ball of Brain Coral water, as was Night. It was easier to concentrate on it that way.  
"I guess we go back to the Good Magician," Night answered.  
"Oh, but I don't want to!" Day cried. Her concentration was momentarily broken, and the Brain Coral started to fall. She noticed, and concentrated on it again. "Couldn't we just go see our families first? In case we can't…can't ever come back to Xanth?" she was breathing hard, tears forming in her eyes.  
"Don't worry!!" Lyndsey said. "I'm sure you'll be allowed to stay in Xanth!"  
But Night had caught the worry of Day. "What if we can't? What if after we bring this to Humfrey, we go back to Mundania?" Her eyes were wide in worry.  
"We'll solve that problem when we get to it," Grundy said, still seated by Lyndsey's ear. "For now, I think that visiting your families is a good idea."  
"Ok," Day said, regaining composure. "I'll just transport us to Lyndsey's hometown, then." The others nodded in agreement. "Uh, Lyndsey, where is it, again?"  
Lyndsey looked as if she were deep in concentration. "It's by the…by the…" she bit her lip. "The Gap Chasm!" she exclaimed. She grinned, happy to remember.  
"Ok. I can orient on that," Day said. "We crossed that on the way to the Good Magician's castle, so I can find it." She could remember that, because they had been there recently. Also because she and Lyndsey were both thinking about it, which made it easier to remember. She raised her arm, as if to transport them, but the floating ball of water wavered in the air."  
"Uh oh," she said. "I can't concentrate enough for both." The others all scrunched up their faces, and furrowed their brows. If they all thought hard enough, surely one of them could come up with an idea of how to solve this problem.  
The solution came from a strange source. A light bulb appeared above Guinever's head, and he started jumping up and down frantically.  
"What is it, Guinever?" Lyndsey asked him, bending down. He pointed at Lyndsey with one of his flipper arms. She looked at him strangely.  
"I think he's trying to tell you something," Grundy said, pointing out the obvious. Guinever continued jumping up and down, and was now using his other flipper arm to point at Lyndsey, too.   
"What is it, Guinever? Why are you pointing at me? Oh, I wish you could talk!" she said, with a sigh of exasperation. Guinever let out a little squeak and kept pointing at her.  
"Oh, I've got it," Grundy said. The others looked at him. "Guinever says Day could give half of her talent to Lyndsey, and Lyndsey could maintain the Brain Coral. With the other half, Day could transport us one at a time to Lyndsey's hometown."   
"I- hey, that could work!" Day exclaimed. "But how did you know that?" She looked at Grundy questioningly.  
"Did you forget that I can speak all the languages of Xanth, bird brain?" he asked. "Sure, Guinever's a crossbreed, but I can still understand him." He smiled at the little penguin/elf.  
"Well, why didn't you just translate in the first place?" Night asked, slightly irritated.  
"He wasn't talking before!" Grundy exclaimed. "If he had been, I would have translated!"  
"So, when Guinever squeaks, he's talking?" Lyndsey asked. She smiled, and patted Guinever's head. "I'm so glad to know that you can talk!" she said, "even if I can't understand you." She looked wistfull.  
"Well, anyway…I think that his plan is worth a try," Day said. "Are you willing to try it, Lyndsey?" she asked.  
"I have no idea how he came up with it, but yeah, I am," Lyndsey answered. She stood back up.  
"Ok then." Day walked over to Lyndsey, and Lyndsey touched her arm.  
"Um...I'm going to think about taking half of your talent now, and you think about giving half of it to me, ok?" Lyndsey asked. She wasn't really sure how to operate her new-old talent, but she thought this was a good way to try. Day nodded. Lyndsey took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Day did the same, but kept one eye open, watching the Brain Coral's floating bubble.  
"Hey, it's sinking!" Night cried. The bubble was heading towards the ground.  
"Lyndsey, concentrate on making it float!" Day said. Lyndsey nodded, and looked at the ball. It began to float again.  
"You did it!" Day said, giving her a hug.  
"Hey, watch it!" Grundy said, almost being knocked off of Lyndsey's shoulder.  
"Sorry Grundy!" Day said, giggling. He smiled too.  
"It's ok," he said. "But here, let me come sit on your shoulder. I don't want to fall off of Lyndsey's when you transport her." Day nodded, and took Grundy off of Lyndsey's shoulder. She set him on her own shoulder, and he grinned, content.  
"How are we going to keep the Brain Coral with us when you move us?" Night asked. "If you can only move one of us at a time, won't we lose it?"  
"I'm hoping that if I move you first, you'll be able to keep it floating long enough, until I get Lyndsey there," Day said. "You should go first, since you're stronger." Night nodded.  
"Ok, that sounds like it might work. Go ahead." She said, concentrating really hard on the water. She wasn't going to let it fall, in the meantime. The bubble actually started floating a little higher.  
"Ok, here we go!" Day said. She raised her arm, closed her eyes, and Night was gone. Quickly, she took a breath, raised the other arm, blinked her eyes, and…Lyndsey was gone.   
"Good job, silky hair!" Grundy said. Then he did a double take. "Wait, that wasn't an insult. I meant stunning eyes." He looked satisfied, then thought about what he said. "Oh, forget it," he muttered. Day smirked.  
"I should be able to move you and Guinever at the same time, since you're both small," she said.  
"Ok," Grundy said. Day lifted him off of her shoulder, and put him down by Guinever.   
"Just stand close to each other," she advised. The two moved closer together. Day lifted her arm- and just like that, they were gone.  
Day looked around. "This is a really spooky cave, when you're alone," she said, to no one in particular. Then she concentrated on moving herself to where the others were. She blinked her eyes, and she was in a pretty glade.  
"Oh wow!" she breathed. "Is this where you used to live?" There were various wildflowers growing everywhere, and soft grass. There were also some artis-trees, which added to the beauty of the place.  
"Yeah, it is," Lyndsey said, looking around. "It's a bit different than I remember."  
"Things do change," Night said. "It's really pretty here," she was looking around, obviously enjoying the view as much as Day. "Oh, I guess I should get us some reverse wood now, so you can give Day her talent back." She had spotted the artis-trees, and the wood had reminded her.  
Lyndsey blinked, and looked at Night. "Oh, right," she agreed. "Hey, I was barely even concentrating on the Brain Coral water, but it's still there, floating. How is that possible?" she asked.  
Night looked pensive. "Well, I guess since I concentrated so hard before I was transported, it just carried over. I'm not even concentrating that hard on it now!" she said happily. "Maybe when Day gets her full power back, we'll both only have to think about it a little to keep it with us!"  
"That'd be great!" Day said.   
Nodding, Night closed her eyes. A piece of wood appeared in front of Lyndsey. "There you go," she said.   
Lyndsey picked up the wood. "Let's do it," she said, looking at Day. Day reached out, and took her hand. Lyndsey concentrated on giving her talent back.   
"It worked!" Day said happily. "I can feel it!" She looked at Night. "Now I'll think just a bit about the Brain Coral water." She did so, and it remained afloat. "I'm barely thinking of it at all!" she exclaimed.  
"Me neither!" Night said.   
"I guess it's because you're both used to it," Lyndsey said. "Or maybe the Coral is just trying to be more willing."  
"Either way, it's much easier," Day said.  
"Um, someone's coming," Grundy said from the ground. In fact, there were three figures walking towards them. Lyndsey picked up Guinever, and Night placed Grundy on her shoulder. They all turned and watched the people coming towards them.  
Lyndsey did a double take. "I think that's my parents!" she cried. She ran towards them, Guinever bouncing in her arms.  
"Wait!" Grundy cried. But as usual, it was too late. He sighed. Would no one ever listen to him? "Let's go get her." The others nodded, and ran to get Lyndsey. What a day!  
  
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	13. Remembering AKA A New Talent For Lyndsey...

Remembering…A New Talent For Lyndsey?  
Lyndsey had stopped a bit away from the people. They hadn't noticed her yet.   
"What's the matter, Lyndsey?" Day asked, stepping beside her. "Why did you stop?"  
"It's not them," Lyndsey said simply. "Those aren't my parents."   
"We could ask them where your parents are," Night suggested. "Maybe they know."  
"That's a good idea, flower stench!" Grundy said. Then he did a double take. "I mean, pretty odour," he looked confused. "Oh, never mind," he muttered.  
"Um, I think I agree with Grundy," Lyndsey said slowly. "They could know where my parents are, so we should ask them." Then she started walking towards the trio. Shrugging, the others followed.  
The people turned out to be a man of about 40, and a woman of the same age. They both had brown hair, that was slightly greying, and plain eyes, and were wearing ordinary clothing. Apparently they were unimportant characters.   
That was the fact that made their son all the more strange. He was nothing ordinary. He was about 17, and had dirty blonde hair. It was pale in comparison to Day's bright golden hair, but light in comparison to Night's dark hair. It was similar to Lyndsey's, but had more blonde in it. He stood tall, about 6'4. His eyes were the oddest mixture of blue and green. They weren't teal- it was almost as if the blue was swimming around the green, and vice versa. He had the kind of eyes a person could get lost in. But there was just something about him…  
"Hi, I'm Lyndsey," Lyndsey said, smiling at the people. "I was wondering if you could tell me where my parents are." A strange look came over her face, and she stopped talking. It was probably a memory, Day reasoned.  
"Well hello!" said the woman, smiling back at Lyndsey. "My name is Seline, and this is my husband, Maximus." She grinned at her at husband. "And this is our son, Raven."  
"Nice to meet you," Lyndsey said. Day, Night, and Grundy stood off to the side, letting the scene progress.  
"What are your parents names?" Seline inquired kindly.  
"Umm…" Lyndsey stalled. Her face crumbled a little. "I can't remember," she said sadly.   
"There, dear, it's alright," Seline said motherly, moving to give Lyndsey a hug. Lyndsey put Guinever down, and let the woman embrace her. A few moments later, the woman backed off.  
"Feeling a little better?" she asked. Lyndsey nodded. "Wonderful," she said, smiling kindly. "Now let's see what we can do about your parents. Do you live around here?" Seline had a soft voice, just lined with motherly concern.  
"I…well, I used to," Lyndsey said. Her voice choked up a little, and Night came to her rescue.  
"She lived here until she was three. After that, she was forced to live in a gourd. But we just got her out, and now she came back to see her parents."   
Seline looked stricken. "Well, now that you mention it…dear, do you remember something about that little girl that used to live here? The one that disappeared?" She pointed the question towards her husband.  
"Why…I believe I do," he said. "But I can't remember whose family she belongs to." He frowned.  
"Do you remember, sweetheart?" she asked her son. He shook his head, looking uncomfortable. "I just can't seem to remember either, even with my talent."  
That word awoke Day. "Your talent?" she asked. "What's your talent?"  
"Why, it's remembering things," Seline answered. "But I suppose it's getting a bit rusty in my old age." She paused and smiled sadly. "I can't seem to remember certain things that happened a long time ago, just general events." She frowned, obviously sorry that her talent couldn't help.  
Guinever, now on the ground, was jumping up and down. Lyndsey leaned down to him. "What is it?" she asked. Guinever squeaked a few times. Lyndsey looked at Grundy.  
"Ha ha, smart bugger!" Grundy exclaimed. "He says that Seline should give her talent to you for a while, and then maybe you can remember your parents' names."  
"Oh wow, that could work!" Lyndsey said happily. "Good thinking, Guinever!" She patted his head, and he smiled. Seline looked confused.  
"If I may ask," she said. "What's this about you taking my talent?" She didn't sound angry, just curious.  
"Oh!" Lyndsey said. "I'm sorry! You see, I'm a-" she stopped here, unsure of what to say. "Well, my talent is to take other people's talents. But, only if they're willing. And with the help of my friend Night," she said, gesturing at Night, "I can give back talents, too."  
"That's wonderful!" Seline exclaimed. "Of course I'll lend you my talent, dear. What do I have to do?" She seemed very willing to help.  
"Well, I'll just touch your arm," Lyndsey said, touching her arm, "and you think about giving me your talent."  
"Easy as that?" Seline inquired.  
"Easy as that," Lyndsey said, smiling. Seline smiled back. Lyndsey concentrated on taking her talent, and a few moments later, she had it. "How do you invoke your talent?" she asked Seline.  
"Oh, you just think," she said. "Just try to remember whatever it is that you're forgetting." She smiled again at Lyndsey, and her smiled brightened her ordinary features.  
Closing her eyes, Lyndsey thought. A flood of memories rushed through her head. "Wow!" she gasped. "That's amazing! I can remember everything!"  
Seline blushed. "Well, I suppose it's a fair enough talent…" She was apparently very flattered.  
"It's an amazing talent!" Lyndsey exclaimed. "I can remember everything that's ever happened to me!"  
"Can you remember your parent's names?" Day asked.  
"Yes! I can!" Lyndsey said. "Their names are-" she paused for half a moment, "Bhut-Khiss, and Seven."  
"Butkiss?" Day burst out laughing. Night doubled over in laughter, too. Grundy eyed them strangely, as did Seline, Maximus, and Raven.  
"Is there something funny about that name?" Seline inquired. "You are pronouncing it slightly wrong. It's B-h-ut K-h-iss, not B-ut K-iss," she explained kindly.  
With an effort, Night and Day were able to stifle their laughter. "We apologize," they said. "It's a very fine name." But their eyes were brimming with tears from laughing. Lyndsey, too, was smiling, having a slight appreciation of Mundane humour from living in the Gourd with the nightmares. So really, it was just a twisted sense of humour, but that's basically the same as Mundane humour.  
"Dear," Seline said, looking at Maximus, "I can't seem to remember those people. Do we know them?" Without her talent, she couldn't remember much anything.  
"Yes, we do," he said. "They live in the same village as us, albeit slightly isolated. They have their twins, Soda and Fizz, remember?"  
"Why, yes, I do remember!" Seline said happily. "I can see so much more clearly without my talent. Before I used to remember everything, now it's all wonderfully fresh!" She looked at Lyndsey. "Listen, dear," she said, "would you mind terribly keeping my talent? Losing it makes the whole world seem anew!"  
Lyndsey looked shocked. "I have twin brothers?" she peeped. Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"  
"No no, it's not twin brothers," Maximus interjected. "It's a boy and a girl." Lyndsey looked shocked. Her violet eyes went off into the distance.  
"A brother and a sister," she murmured.  
Sensing that this wasn't the best time to ask, Seline did not repeat her question. "Well, sweetheart, it just so happens that Bhut-Khiss and Seven are traveling right now. We tried to convince them to take Raven, for he is in terrible need of an adventure, but-" she paused, peering at them. "How old are you?" she asked.  
"I'm sixteen," Lyndsey said.  
"We're sixteen, too," Day and Night said. "Almost seventeen!"   
"I'm not really sure how old Guinever is," Lyndsey said.  
Grundy smirked. "And I am old enough to know why you need to know how old they are."  
Seline smiled back. "Well, your parents went away on a little excursion to the moon. It's the year of the honey-moon, and they wanted to go explore. They should be back in a few days. In the meantime, will you accept our hospitality?"  
"Yes!" Day said quickly, happy for any reason to stay longer. Everyone looked at her. "Um, that is, I mean, yes please?" she grinned hopefully. Everyone laughed.  
"Come, we'll make our way back to the village for something to eat," Seline said. Then she turned, hand-in-hand with Maximus. Raven smiled at the girls, which sent chills down their spines, then turned and walked with his parents.  
"He's cute!" Day whispered to Night.  
"I haven't seen many guys, growing up in the gourd, but he looks pretty good to me!" Lyndsey whispered to them, similarly. They all smiled at each other, and then started after the three. They were on their way to finding Lyndsey's family!  
  
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	14. Into The Village

Into the Village  
They didn't have to walk far before they reached a small village. It was a secluded little area, surrounded by scattered trees. There were about eight cottages, arranged in a semi-circle pattern.  
"This is pretty," Day said, looking around. Night, standing beside her, nodded. The Brain Coral water floated down and up in a nodding head motion, apparently responding to the girls without their thinking about it.  
"Just like I remember," Lyndsey murmured. Of course, she probably didn't remember about ten minutes ago, but now that she had Seline's talent, she could.  
"This is the village," Seline said, turning around to face them. "That's our house over there." She pointed towards a cottage at the far end of the village. "Maximus and I have to run a little errand, but Raven can take you there, and he'll feed you."   
None of the girls looked too upset by this notion. "Oh, I guess I should give you your talent back," Lyndsey said, apparently now remembering about that.  
"Oh, no, dear, that's fine," Seline said. "I'd like for you to keep it. That is, if you'd like it." She smiled hesitantly.  
"Oh, I'd love it!" Lyndsey said. She smiled. Seline gave her a quick hug.  
"Well, it's settled then. Raven will take you to our cottage, and get you fed. Maximus and I will be home shortly." She smiled at the whole group, and with a little wave, she and Maximus walked off into the woods.  
"Which means that it is my responsibility to insure you are taken care of," Raven said, smiling at the girls. They all swooned.  
"A little food, and then we should sleep," Grundy said, the Voice of Command. "We've had a long day."  
"But Grundy, it's not even that late!" Day protested.  
"Yeah, we weren't traveling for that long!" Night said stubbornly.  
"I want to see the rest of the village," Lyndsey said.  
"There'll be time for all that tomorrow," Grundy said. The girls pouted. Raven laughed.  
"Please follow me," Raven said, "I'll take you for dinner now." He gestured towards the cottage, then turned and walked towards it. The girls all followed, Grundy looking somewhat less impressed, and Guinever following with a pout.   
They soon reached the cottage, as it wasn't very far away. It was fair sized, and when they stepped into it, it seemed even bigger.  
Raven stopped, and gestured towards the table. "Make yourselves comfortable. I will be back in a moment," he said, giving them another one of his killer smiles. The girls all smiled dumbly and sat down. Night took Grundy off of her shoulder and set him on the table, and Lyndsey lifted Guinever onto a chair. Raven stepped out of the room.  
"Soooo hot!" Day said, her eyes gleaming.  
"I know!" Night and Lyndsey said.  
"What is?" Grundy asked worriedly. "Is it the chairs?"  
The girls all laughed. "Sorry Grundy," Day said. "It's a Mundane term. It means good looking or handsome."  
Grundy looked at her strangely. "Hot means good looking or handsome? You Mundanes…so strange. What a birdbrain," he muttered. This just caused the girls to laugh even more.  
They only had to wait a few minutes before Raven returned. He brought them some sort of meat, and some cheese, (but it wasn't gorgon-zola, for only the Gorgon could make that), and tsoda popka to drink. They each got a fair sized portion, and Raven sat down to eat, too.  
"Wow, this is so good!" Day said, tasting the meat. "What is it?"  
Raven grinned. "It is imitation dragon meat. My mother has a snap-dragon plant, and we harvest meat of off it. Of course, it is not as good as real dragon meat, but we find it suffices." Day dumbly nodded, having barely heard his explanation. One smile from him turned a girl to mush!  
"Well, I really like it too," Night said. "I haven't ever had real dragon meat, so it tastes awesome to me!" This brought her a smile from Raven, and she turned to mush, too.   
Lyndsey took a sip of tsoda popka. It tickled her nose. "Oh!" she said in surprise. "I never had anything like this in the gourd!" Everyone smiled, including Raven. Guinever frowned, apparently unhappy that the attention was not focused on him, and even worse, it was being strongly focused on someone else. His talent kicked in.  
"Aww, Guinny, what's that matter?" Day asked, stroking his chin.  
"It's ok baby boy," Night cooed, patting his head.  
"Don't be sad, Guinever," Lyndsey said sweetly, smiling at him. Guinever's frown wavered.   
"There's my boy!" Lyndsey said, grinning at him. Day and Night continued patting him. He smiled, and they were released from the spell.  
"Wish I had a talent like that," Grundy muttered. The girls heard him, and they laughed.  
"Aw, you know we love you, Grundy," Day said.  
"Hehe, yeah, you're the best, G-man," Night added.  
"A real friend!" Lyndsey said with a grin. Grundy was confused by Day's confession of love, and the 'G-man' remark, but he smiled, nonetheless. But he would have to be careful what he said to Day from now on. He was, after all, a married man.  
"Looks like some of Guinever's talent rubbed off on you," Lyndsey said, laughing. The others all joined in.  
Soon enough, they were done eating. The meat had filled them right up. "Would you like some pie?" Raven asked.   
"I'll have some!" Day said. Even though she was full, she could never turn down dessert.  
"I will too," Night said. She had the same problem as day. But Lyndsey politely declined.  
"I'm really full," she said. "Thanks, but I think I'm done." Guinever hopped up and down once. Lyndsey laughed. "Guinny would like a piece, though." He smiled.  
"And you, Grundy?" Raven asked.  
Grundy looked surprised. "Sure, I'll have a piece. Thanks," he said. Raven smiled again at the group, then got up and left the room. He came back a moment later with some key-lime pie.  
"You will have to take the keys out yourself, I'm afraid," he said apologetically. "I did not have time to."  
"That's ok!" Day and Night said. Grundy didn't really mind either, but didn't find it necessary to say so quite so emphatically.  
"Not a problem," he said, so as not to seem rude. Raven gave them each a piece of pie, and one to himself, too. They all pulled the keys out, and ate it. Lyndsey, the only one without pie, sat quietly, waiting for the others to finish. It didn't take long.  
"Wow, that was great pie," Day said, stretching her arms.  
"Good whole meal," Night said, smirking at Day. Raven caught the look, and laughed. Then he smiled at them both.  
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said. Then he stood up, and cleared the table off. He took the leftovers out of the room, and came back a moment later.  
"My parents haven't returned yet," he said. "I suppose you can either go to sleep now, or I can show you around the village."  
The girls all jumped up, about to speak, but Grundy beat them to it. "We'll go to sleep," he said. They all frowned. But Guinever didn't frown, because if they were sleeping, the girls' attention wouldn't be focused on a certain someone who wasn't him. Grundy didn't say so, but that was part of the reason he wanted them sleeping, too.  
The girls started to protest, but Grundy cut them off again. "We'll have plenty of time to explore tomorrow," he said. "We have to stay in the village until Lyndsey's parents come back, anyway." With disappointed looks, and little glares at Grundy, the girls silently consented.  
"I'm afraid the accommodations won't be very…well, accommodating," Raven apologized. "We are normally suited for three people."  
"We don't want to put you out," Lyndsey said, frowning. The other girls were frowning too, unhappy at making Raven sacrifice something for them. Then Day got a light bulb.  
"We're dumb!" she said. But she sounded happy. Everyone looked at her, confused. "We can just go outside, and Night can get us a cottage. And beds, too," she added.  
"Hey, why didn't we think of that before!" Night said. "That's a great idea!" Lyndsey was nodding.  
"Yeah, then we don't have to impose on Raven!" she said happily. The girls all smiled at each other. Raven looked confused.  
"Night's talent is to move inanimate objects," Grundy explained. Raven looked impressed.  
"That must be Sorceress level talent!" he said. "Or at least Neo-Sorceress." Night smiled and nodded happily. "If you would like to do that, please feel free," he continued. "But if you would like to stay in here, you are not imposing," he said politely.  
"Oh, we'll go out there," Grundy said, happy to have another reason to get the girls further away from Raven. "That way when your parents get home, you can all sleep in your own beds. It's really no trouble for her to do this," he said. Then he glanced at Night.  
"Oh, yeah, no problem at all," she said. She was still in a bit of a haze from Raven's compliment. Day was a little less pleased, since her talent hadn't been mentioned, and she hadn't gotten a compliment.  
They all walked outside, the Brain Coral water floating behind them. The girls had gotten so used to it that they barely thought about it anymore, and it still remained with them. Night closed her eyes, and thought about bringing a cottage here. Suddenly, one appeared. It was fair sized. Then she stepped inside it, and thought about three beds. Three big beds with tons of pillows on them popped inside.  
"There we go," she said. The others clambered in.   
"Nice beds!" Lyndsey said, sinking into hers. Guinever was in her bed also. As a crossbreed pet, it was ok for him to sleep with her.  
"Truly a great talent," Raven murmured, looking at Night. She almost melted, and smiled dumbly at him.  
"Thanks," she said, blushing. Day glared.  
"I suppose I should be going," he said, stepping back. "Have a good night's sleep, and I shall see you in the morning." That said, he stepped all the way out, and closed the cottage door. Grundy got into one of the remaining beds, and Day and Night got into the other.  
"Way to hog all his attention," Day said. She stuck her tongue out at Night.  
"Ha ha, you're just jealous," Night said.  
"You know it!" Day said, smiling. Then they both laughed.   
"Pipe down, loud mouths, it's time to go to sleep now," Grundy said. He had apparently gotten his ability to insult back.  
"Fine, fine," Day said. "Hey, maybe tomorrow we'll get to meet your brother and sister," she said to Lyndsey, unable to get in one last comment.  
"Maybe," Lyndsey said softly. Day let it drop, and she and Night continued to chatter quietly. Lyndsey was unusually quiet for the rest of the night.  
  
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	15. Derek's Chapter Kinda?

Derek's Chapter…Kinda  
They awoke in the morning to the sounds of birds chirping. Well, rather, Day woke to the sounds of birds chirping, and then she rolled over and pushed Night out of bed, which woke her up. Guinever had to use the toilet-trees, and poked Lyndsey until she got up to take him out. Grundy was sleeping peacefully, until his bed disappeared out from under him.  
"What's going on?" he stuttered in a half-asleep, confused voice.  
"Oh, sorry Grundy! Musta forgot about you," Night giggled. Day gave her a shove.  
"That wasn't very nice!" she said. But she was smiling, too.  
"Ugh," Grundy replied. Then he went off to use the toilet-tree, too. When he returned, the girls had changed outfits. There was a clothing tree nearby. Grundy wondered how they had gotten it. So he asked.  
"How did you get a clothing tree?" he asked. Since it wasn't technically animate, since it couldn't move around, but wasn't really inanimate, since it was alive, he was confused.  
"Oh, we got it together!" Day said. "The Good Magician taught us an important trick! If I can't get it myself, and Night can't get it herself, then we can probably get it together!" She smiled at Night, who smiled back.  
"Oh, I see," he said. "You talents are growing." The girls glowed at the compliment. He smiled back, somewhat proud of them. Then he inspected their outfits.  
Day was wearing a light blue skirt, which Grundy personally thought showed off too much of her shapely legs. (Mainly because he was married…and knew her attention was going to Raven). She also had a pale yellow shirt on…but it was a strange shirt, a kind Grundy had never seen before. It had no arms, but it did have straps. And it didn't cover all of her belly. It made Grundy's eyes bulge, but he didn't know what it was called. She had plain blue runners on, and her hair was hanging down.  
"What sort of a shirt is that?" he asked, prying his eyes away.  
"It's a tank top!" Day said happily. "We made some Mundane clothes," she explained.  
"Oh," Grundy said. "Very nice." He would have told her to put on a different skirt and a larger shirt, but couldn't find a good reason. They would be spending another day and night in the village, more than likely, and as much as he wanted to, he couldn't find another reason to make her change.  
Next he looked at Night. Of course, her outfit mirrored Day's. Or Day's mirrored hers. Either way. She had on a similar mini- skirt, but it was a rich, dark blue. And her 'tank top' was a silvery-grey. Her running shoes were blue, also. They were actually the same colour as Day's. Her hair was tumbling down her back, in a similar style as Days.   
Last came Lyndsey. She was dressed slightly more conservatively in pants…but they weren't full pants. In fact, they were pretty much the same length as the short skirts, Grundy noticed with dismay. They were a pale blue colour. Her shirt was even stranger than the other two. It was a pretty light purple colour, but it only had one shoulder. The other shoulder was bare. Grundy shrugged, unable to figure it out. Lyndsey's pretty hair was pulled back into a 'pony tail.' Grundy figured it was called that because it resembled a horse's tail. A pony must be like a horse, although he had never actually seen one. With her hair back, the colour of her eyes was even more apparent. They shone with a dazzling purple brilliance. Guinever was donning a new green bow.  
"Everybody all done?" he asked. The girls all nodded. "Good. Go ahead and get yourselves some breakfast. I'll be there in a moment, as soon as I change." The girls walked off a little, and Grundy picked some new trousers and a shirt off the tree. He put them on, then walked over to where the girls were.  
They had various kinds of fresh fruit: apples, bananas, cherries, and pineapples. He looked at them pensively. "Don't worry," Lyndsey said. "They're not explosive." Grundy relaxed. They also had red juice, and orange juice. Grundy settled down and ate with the girls.   
When they were done, the girls looked eager to go. "Let's go find Raven," Day said. "He promised to show us around the village." She was grinning.  
"We could search around ourselves," Grundy suggested, with a hint of a smile.  
"NO!" all the girls said, simultaneously. Grundy laughed, expecting that answer.  
"Um, I mean, we couldn't be that rude," Day said, composing herself.  
"Of course not," Grundy said with a smirk.  
Just as they were about to get up and walk towards Raven's cottage, two figures approached them. One was the Demoness Metria, who Day and Night recognized from the Companions that they could pick at the starting of the game. With her was a flying computer screen, and in it was-  
"Derek!" Day exclaimed. The computer screen turned her way.  
"Mya?" it said. "What are you doing in this game? And why haven't you been at school?" It occurred to Day that it was Derek speaking, from inside the computer screen.  
"Hey, I'm here too," Night said.  
"Steph?" Derek asked. He looked confused.   
"Why is he in that screen?" Day asked Metria, tapping on the screen.  
"He doesn't believe in magic. I just can't get him to, no matter how much skin I show him," Metria said, her clothes defusing.  
"Uh, I think I can help you with that, if you put your clothes back on," Day said. Metria complied. Day nodded. "Listen, stupid," she said, taking the computer screen in her hands, "magic is real. So accept it." She gave the computer screen a little shake, then let it go.  
"Oh," said Derek. Then the computer screen slowly disappeared, and Derek appeared beside them.   
"Conquest!" Metria exclaimed, wrapping her body around Derek. He struggled, but not much.  
"What?" Lyndsey asked.  
"Victory, achievement, accomplishment, triumph-"  
"Success?" Lyndsey asked.  
"Whatever," Metria said crossly. Then she turned to Day. "How did you get him to believe?" she asked, curious.  
"Ah, I guess it's a Mundane thing," Day said. "Girls are always right. You just gotta know how to get through to 'um." Metria looked quite confused, but also thoughtful.  
"How to get through to them," she repeated, quietly.  
"So, what are you doing here, Derek?" Night asked. Metria had untangled herself from him.  
"I'm playing this wild game called 'Companions of Xanth! It's so much fun!" Derek said. Then he launched into some technical computer mumbo jumbo, but Night blocked that out.  
"That's cool," she said.  
"You're only cold because you aren't wearing much, birdbrain," Grundy said. Night laughed.  
"Not cold, cool! It's a Mundane term," she explained.   
"Oh," Grundy said.  
Derek had finished his spiel. "So, what are you guys doing here?" he asked.  
"Uhh…" Day stuttered. "That's a bit confusing."  
"No it isn't," Night said. "Day and I are really Sorceresses. We originally came from Xanth, but accidentally ended up in Mundania. Now we found our way back."  
"Day?" Derek said dumbly.  
"Yah, our names are actually Day and Night," Day said.  
"Oh." This was all a bit too much for Derek to handle.  
"We should be departing," Metria said, rubbing close to Derek.  
"What?" Lyndsey asked, picking up Guinever, so he wouldn't be sad.  
"Leaving, taking off, departing, exiting- wait, I had the right word!" she snapped.  
"I know," Lyndsey said. "I was just wondering why you were going so soon," she explained.  
"Oh," Metria said, becoming slightly foggy. "Well, Derek needs to go find his Talent. That's the object of the game, you know."  
"Right," Lyndsey said.  
Night and Day stood in front of Derek. "Be careful, ok?" they said. "Maybe we'll see you later."  
Derek looked like he didn't really want to leave, but Metia was pulling on his shirt sleeve. "'K," he said. "Bye." Then he walked off, Metria close at his side. Her clothes were defusing again. Derek was in for some adventure! The last the girls had heard of him, he had won the talent of waking maidens with a kiss. They wondered what he would need that talent for…  
"Let's get going," Grundy said. The girls all nodded in agreement. They started off towards Raven's cottage. Day, Night, and Lyndsey, with Guinever on her shoulder, all starting running. They were giggling. Grundy sighed. Dealing with women…it was just too much to handle!  
  
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	16. Lyndsey's Family

Lyndsey's Family  
Day arrived at the cottage first and knocked on the door. Then she stepped back, waiting for it to open. Lyndsey and Night stood at her sides, and Grundy was behind them. Lyndsey was still holding Guinever.  
The door opened, and Seline peeked out. "Oh, good morning, girls!" she said happily. "Hello to Grundy and Guinever, too," she added. "Do come in." Then she stepped back, and gave them room to entre. They did.  
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Seline asked, gesturing for them to sit down at the table.  
"Actually, we have," Day said.  
"Sorry!" Night added.  
"We were really hoping to see the village," Lyndsey said.  
"Of course!" Seline said, smiling brightly. "Maximus is still sleeping, and I have chores to do around the house. But I'm sure Raven will be more than happy to show you around." That brought smiles and blushes from all of the girls. "I was wondering," she continued, "what are you going to do once you are done here?"  
"We're going to see our home village," Day said. "And then back to the Good Magician's castle."  
Seline looked thoughtful. "Do you think…" she paused. "You see, Raven is in need of an adventure. I was wondering if…" She stopped talking. But the girls knew what she was asking, and were more than happy to comply.   
"Of course he can come!" Day exclaimed, clapping her hands.  
"We'd love to have him along!" was Night's reply. She was smiling.  
"It's the least we can do," Lyndsey said, looking excited.  
"Oh, wonderful!" Seline said, smiling so much the girls' thought her face might burst. "He can show you around the village, and then you must come back here before you leave. I'll have a pack ready for him!" She was so excited that she jumped up and left the room. Grundy and the girls presumed she was going to get Raven. They were right.  
"Good morning," Raven said a moment later, stepping into the room. "My mother is going to wake my father, and tell him the news. I'm glad you decided to take me along." He was smiling. The girls, dazed by his smile, were unable to reply.  
"It's no problem," Grundy said, even though he wasn't sure he really wanted Raven along.  
"Thank you," Raven said to Grundy. Then he turned back to the girls. "There is not much to see in the village," he said, "so shall we just go straight to see your brother and sister?" This question was pointed at Lyndsey. She nodded.  
"Yah. I'd like to meet them." She paused. "Do you know when my parents will be home?"  
"They may be home now," Raven replied. "If not, they should be home later in the day, or early tomorrow."   
"Ok," Lyndsey said. Then they were all quiet.  
"Let's get going," Day said. Silently agreeing, they walked out of the house. Night had picked up Grundy and placed him on her shoulder.  
"Their house is a little ways out into the forest," Raven said. "But it is not too far."   
"Sounds good," Day said, stepping up beside him.  
"Show us the way!" Night said, also stepping up. She wasn't going to let Day have the upper hand. Lyndsey, distracted, followed silently behind.  
Raven led them through the trees. There was no path to follow, so they had to step carefully. It wasn't really hard walking- just stepping over the occasional branch or rock. Day and Night had to move so they were following Raven, though, as there wasn't room for three to walk beside each other.   
Soon enough, they reached a little clearing. In the clearing was a small cottage. It was completely surrounded by trees. The cottage was very cozy looking.  
"Home," Lyndsey whimpered, tears welling in her eyes. For the moment, Day and Night forgot about Raven, and came to stand beside her. Day took Guinever, and Night put her arm around Lyndsey. Grundy sat still on her other shoulder.  
"Are you ready to go in?" Day asked gently. Lyndsey closed her eyes, and nodded.  
"Yeah. I'm ready," she said. She walked silently towards the house, and the others followed her, quiet as well. Lyndsey stepped up, put Guinever down, and knocked on the door. They heard rustling within.   
"Mama, can I answer the door?" they heard a little voice call.   
"Just a moment," was the answer.   
The door cracked open, and a middle aged woman came out. She was petite, and pretty, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She looked at the group of them.  
"Who's there?" she asked. She squinted her eyes at Lyndsey. "Is that-?" she paused. She sucked in her breath. "Lyndsey?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes filled with tears. "Baby girl?"  
Lyndsey was having a similar reaction. There were tears streaming down her face. She nodded. "Mom!" she cried, throwing herself into the woman's arm. She grasped her tightly. They clung to each other for quite a while, before breaking away.  
"My girl," the woman said, brushing Lyndsey's hair off her face. Their eyes were red and puffy. She shook her head. "But where are my manners. Who are your friends?" she asked.  
Lyndsey smiled. "This is Day, Night, and Grundy. They rescued me. And this is Raven, we met him in the village. And this," she said, grabbing Guinever's hand, "is Guinever."  
"Pleased to meet all of you," Lyndsey's mom, Seven, said, regaining composure. "I- please do come in. We have so much to talk about!" Her eyes were going teary again. Lyndsey and the others all followed her into the house. They were met by two excited little children.  
"Who is it, Mama?" the first one asked. That was the girl. She had black hair, that had a greenish tinge to it. It was wild, and frizzy. Her cute little button nose was littered with freckles, and her sapphire green eyes shone brilliantly.   
"Yeah, who is it?" the second child asked. This was the boy twin. His hair was the same as the girls, only it had a blue-ish tinge. It was cut a bit shorter, and it jutted out in every angle. His eyes were bright blue, quite the same as his mothers. His face was quite similar to the girls, cute and pudgy. They were about six.  
"It's…why, it's your sister," Seven said. "Your sister Lyndsey."  
"Our sister?" the two little voices echoed. "We thought she was gone." They both looked up at her.  
"Hi," Lyndsey said shyly, giving them a little wave.  
"Sweetheart," Seven said, putting her arm around Lyndsey, "This is Soda, your little sister. And this is Fizz, your brother." The twins smiled up at her mischievously. "Soda, Fizz, this is Lyndsey."  
"Hi Lyndsey," they said in unison. Looking more closely at them, Lyndsey could see where they got their names from. Their wild hair quite resembled tsoda popka, after you shake it, and it sprays out everywhere.  
"Hi, guys," she said, smiling at them. They smiled back.  
"Now, just wait one moment while I go get your father," Seven said, looking like she didn't really want to go anywhere.  
"Ok," Lyndsey said. Her mom ran out of the room, and returned a moment later, being closely followed by a man. He was taller than she was, but not that tall. He had brown hair also, and it seemed Lyndsey had inherited her eye colour from him, as his were also a dazzling violet. There was no mistaking they were father and daughter.  
"Lyndsey?" he said, staring at her in disbelief.  
"Dad," Lyndsey said. She walked slowly up to him.  
"Lyndsey!" he said, pulling her in for a hug. Tears were streaming down his face, now, too.  
"I just can't believe it," her mom was muttering. "Back after so long! It's just so wonderful!" And then she was hugging Lyndsey, too.  
"We've missed you so much!" her father was saying. "It was just such a shock when you disappeared! We were so grief stricken that we moved away from the village. But not too far. We always hoped you would come back, and you'd find us here. But after so long- wow!"  
"Don't misunderstand," her mom said quickly. "This is the more wonderful thing that could ever happen. We're just shocked! We thought you were gone." Her eyes were misty.  
"I guess I should tell you what happened," Lyndsey said. Her parents nodded, taking her hands.  
"We love you, Lyndsey," they said.  
"We love you too!" the twins echoed. Lyndsey smiled.  
"And I love you," she said. Then, she told her tale…  
  
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	17. Coming Home

Coming Home  
"And that's what happened," Lyndsey finished. It wasn't really a long story, just the same as she had told Night and Day, earlier. But Seven was crying, and Bhut-Khiss had gone teary eyed.  
"Oh, sweetheart…" Seven said, embracing her daughter. She was unable to say any more.  
"We never knew you were a Sorceress," her father said. "If we'd known…" he chocked up.  
"Don't worry. It's…well, it's done," Lyndsey said. She smiled at them. "I'm back now." Her parents smiled back.  
"And we're so glad for that," Seven said. "We missed you so much!" Again, tears welled in her eyes.  
"I missed you too!" Lyndsey cried. Seven hugged her, then Bhut-Khiss did.  
"We want to hug her, too!" Soda and Fizz cried, jumping up. That caused everyone to laugh. Lyndsey knelt down and hugged them. The twins giggled.  
"Thank you Lyndsey!" they said. She smiled at them.  
"This is going to be so wonderful!" Seven said. "We built a room in this house for you, and everything!" then she looked thoughtful. "Of course, if you want, we can move closer into the village. Whatever you want." She smiled at Lyndsey.  
Lyndsey frowned. She looked at Day and Night. Then she looked back at her parents. She looked torn. "Mom…" she said slowly. "Day and Night saved me from the gourd." Grundy coughed. "And Grundy," Lyndsey added with a smile. "I owe them my life. I think I have to see them to the end of their adventure."   
Seven looked like her heart had broken. "But…don't you want to stay with us?" she asked, tears leaking out of her eyes. Bhut-Khiss put his arm around her.  
"Of course I do!" Lyndsey said quickly. "And I'll come back when it's over, too! It's just…I need to go with them," she explained.  
Bhut-Khiss nodded. "I understand, dear," he said. "You take as long as you need. Your mother and I thought you were gone forever. Just seeing you back for a few minutes made everything worth it."  
"And I'm still coming back," Lyndsey said.  
"Yes," her father smiled. "And we'll be here, waiting for you."  
"It's just so soon!" her mother said. "We just got you back, and now you're leaving again? Can't you stay a little while?" She had dried her eyes, but still looked sad.  
Lyndsey glanced at Day and Night, who had been sitting quietly this whole time. "What do you guys think?" she asked them. They looked at each other.  
"Why don't we just leave tomorrow?" Day said. Lyndsey looked at her mother.  
"That would be wonderful!" she said, smiling.   
"Then it's settled," Bhut-Khiss said. "You'll stay the day, and we'll get caught up. Then tomorrow, you'll leave on your adventure. And as soon as we know it, you'll be back again!" He grinned at his daughter, and she smiled back.  
But two keen ears had heard the word 'adventure.' "We want to go too!" Soda and Fizz yelled. "Please Mom, Dad, can't we?" they begged.   
"I don't know…" Bhut-Khiss said. Soda and Fizz made puppy dog eyes. They did it quite effectively.  
"She won't be gone long…" Seven echoed. The twins whipped up some tears.  
Day and Night looked at one another. The twins' ploy was working quite effectively on them. "I don't see why we can't bring them along," Day said.  
"After all, we really won't be gone long," Night added. The twins got hopeful looks in their eyes.  
"Can we Mama, plllease?" they said sweetly. Seven sighed.  
"If it's ok with your daddy," she said. Then she looked at Lyndsey. "And your big sister."  
"I suppose its ok with me," Bhut-Khiss said.  
"I'd love to have them along!" Lyndsey said, smiling at the two.  
"YAY!" the twins screamed, jumping up and down. "We're going on an adventure!!!" Grundy sighed. No one had bothered to ask him if he wanted two six year olds along. Which, for the record, he really didn't.  
"Well, I think Day and I want to go explore the village," Night said. Really, she didn't mind, but knew that Lyndsey would want some time alone with her parents before they had to leave."  
"I will be glad to show you around," Raven volunteered.  
"I'll go with you too," Grundy said quickly, eyeing Raven suspiciously.  
"We wanna go too!" the twins said. Day and Night grinned at them.  
"It's ok with us if it's ok with your parents!" they said. Soda and Fizz looked up at Seven and Bhut-Khiss. They nodded.  
"You can go," Seven said. "But mind your manners! And no using your talents!" she added.   
"We'll be good," the twins promised. Grundy sure hoped they would!  
"I'll keep Guinever here with me," Lyndsey said. "I'd like for him to get to know my parents." Guinever smiled.  
"What exactly are their talents?" Grundy questioned.  
"Oh," Seven said. "I should have told you! Soda," she pointed at the girl with the slightly green hair, "can solidify liquids. And Fizz," she gestured at the blue tinged haired boy, "can liquefy solids."  
Grundy whistled. "Those are impressive talents," he said. To himself, he wondered if they'd be able to keep the twins under control. But he reminded himself that he had two Sorceresses with him. Assuming that Day and Night were under control, (he laughed to himself), the six year olds should be easy enough to take care of.  
Seven and Bhut-Khiss smiled proudly. "We figure they're a Neo-Sorceress and Neo-Magician," Seven said.  
"They may even be full Magician and Sorceress class," Grundy said.  
"Neo-Sorceress? What's that?" Day asked. Night looked interested, too.  
"It's a talent slightly under full Sorceress level," Grundy explained. "It's not strong enough to be classified as Sorceress, but it's much stronger than your average spot-on-the-wall talent."  
"Spot-on-the-wall?" Night asked, confused.  
Grundy laughed. "Oops. I forgot you wouldn't know what that is. Spot-on-the-wall magic is just a term for weaker magic. It's called that because the talent of making a spot appear on a wall isn't very strong magic," he explained.  
"Oh, I get it," said Day.  
"Yeah, me too," said Night. They looked at each other.  
"Neo-Sorceress!" Day said. "Ever cool sounding!"  
"I know!" Night said back.  
Raven, Bhut-Khiss, and Seven looked confused. "Cool means interesting," Grundy explained. They all nodded in understanding.  
"Strange, though," Seven said. Day, Night, and Lyndsey laughed.  
"I guess we should be going," Day said, standing up. Night stood up too, and the ball of Brain Coral water floated with them.  
"Ahh! What is that?" Seven asked, just noticing it.  
"Oh, it's Brain Coral water," Day said, as if it were a common thing. "We're bringing it to the Good Magician."  
"Oh," Seven said simply.  
The twins jumped up, ready to go. Soda took Day's hand, and Fizz took Night's hand.  
"We're ready!" they said sweetly. Day and Night laughed.  
"So are we!" they said. The twins laughed too. Grundy rolled his eyes from his perch on Night's shoulder. He had a feeling it wasn't going to be so easy with these four.  
"Shall we go?" Raven asked, smiling at the girls. They nodded at him, smiling back.  
"See you soon!" Lyndsey said, smiling at them.  
"Bye Lyndsey!" Day said.  
"Cya!" Night called. "Have fun!"  
"I will!" Lyndsey said. Then Day, Night, Raven, Soda, Fizz, and Grundy all walked out the door. Lyndsey sat down with her smiling parents. She was home!  
  
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	18. Budding Romance AKA Nothing Chapter 2

Budding Romance  
"I'm really glad she finally got home," Day said, as they stepped out of the cottage. She stretched her arms over her head, and yawned. "It's a nice day, isn't it?"  
"Can we go explore now?" Soda asked, looking up at Day.  
"Way to break the mood, kid," Day laughed. Soda looked confused. That made Day laughed harder. "Yeah, we can go exploring now." Soda grinned, and grabbed Day's hand again.   
Meanwhile, Fizz was pulling on Night's hand. "What is it?" Night asked, looking down at the child. When Night leaned down, Grundy had to grab onto a lank of her hair, lest he fall off. Of course, he didn't really mind this, as her hair was quite silky.  
"I hafta pee!" Fizz said. Night laughed.  
"Uh, Day," she said. Day turned to face her. "We have a little problem over here."  
"What is it?" Day asked.  
"Fizz needs a toile-tree." Night was trying to keep a straight face.   
"Oh. Well…umm…isn't there one over there somewhere?" Day pointed in a random direction.  
"I have no idea!" Night said. "Why don't we just bring one here?"   
"Good plan!" Day said. "Let's do it." Then they both lifted an arm, and suddenly a tree appeared.  
"Wow!" Soda and Fizz said, staring at the tree. "How'd you do that?"   
"That's their talent," Grundy explained.  
Fizz looked pensive. "Summoning trees? That's a weird talent."   
Day and Night laughed, while Grundy looked flustered. "No," Day said. "My talent is moving animate objects, and Night's is moving inanimate objects. When we work together, we can move just about anything." The twins' eyes widened, and they looked up at the girls, opened mouthed.  
"Wow," they said. Day and Night smiled.  
Raven was having a similar reaction to the twins. "I did not know that your talent was so similar to Nights'," he said, looking at Day. "Two such strong talents, paired up with…" now he glanced back and forth between the two of them, "two such beautiful women." This, of course, caused Day and Night to blush considerably. Grundy could only assume that it was because their outfits were supposed to give them power over Raven, but had instead given him more power over them, and now they were embarrassed.  
"Thank you," the both muttered lamely.   
"I still hafta go!" Fizz suddenly yelped. Grundy was beginning to realize how good small children were at ruining moods.  
"Just use the toile-tree," Day said, composing herself. "It's right there."  
"I can't go when people are watching!" Fizz whined. Day rolled her eyes and looked at Night.  
"I'll get you a curtain," Night said. Suddenly, there was a pink curtain around the toile-tree.  
"I can't use that!" Fizz said. "I'm a boy!"   
Sighing, Night raised her arm. A blue curtain appeared around the tree. "Thanks!" Fizz said, running to the tree. He came back a moment later. "Ok, let's go!" He grabbed Night's hand. Grundy was impressed. So far, the children seemed to be very well behaved.  
The six of them started walking. Since they had nowhere to go in particular, they just meandered around. The twins had let go of the girls' hands, and were running around. They were staying close, though, so it was ok.   
After walking through the woods for about an hour or so, the twins started to get restless. Day and Night were getting bored, too.  
"I can only take so much of these trees," Day said. "I missed Xanth, but this is just too much of one thing." She stuck her tongue out.  
"And these flowers just aren't so interesting anymore," Night added.  
"We're hungry!" the twins whined. Grundy got a lightbulb.  
"Why don't we have a picnic?" he suggested. That brought him smiles from all parties. He grinned back, pleased.  
"What a great idea, Grundy!" Day exclaimed.  
"Yeah, can't believe it came from you!" Night teased. Everyone laughed, including Grundy, who couldn't help but be caught up in the lighthearted mood.  
Night cleared a spot out in the forest, and laid down a blanket. Then, she brought food, (crackers, cheese, something they called "Oreos," a few flavours of tsoda popka, and oranges), and a bunch of pillows. It wasn't an overly healthy meal, but it wasn't composed of junk food, either.  
The twins dug in greedily, devouring almost every morsel that Night had conjured. Laughing, she lifted her arm, and the bowls were all refilled. The twins ate a little more, then stopped.  
"We're full," Soda groaned.  
"Well, that's what happens when you eat so much!" Day said in a motherly tone. Grundy was surprised. Then she softened, a little. "Why don't you go lay down on those pillows?" Nodding, the twins flopped down. A few minutes later, they were asleep.  
"Remember when we were like that?" Day asked, looking at the sleeping twins.  
Night laughed. "I think we were worse!"   
"I believe it!" Grundy said. Day and Night laughed, hard. Night took Grundy off of her shoulder, and settling down, the "adults" ate the rest of the food.  
"These 'oreos' are good!" Grundy commented.  
"I agree," said Raven. The girls smiled.  
"Glad you think so!" Day said. Then she turned to Night, and patted her stomach. "Are you as uncomfortable as I am?" she asked. Night nodded. "Outfit change?" Again, Night nodded. "I was thinking…" she said, then leaned in close to Night, and whispered something that Grundy couldn't hear.  
"Hey, I think that'd work!" Night said. "Good idea!" Day smiled. "But, just in case…" and suddenly, she and Day were surrounded by a curtain. Raven and Grundy sat outside of it, perplexed. A moment later, the girls stepped out.  
Day was wearing a pale blue dress, which had cloud designs on it. It had the same sort of straps as her shirt, and it ended just above her knees. Somehow, it still managed to show off a curve here, and some skin there, Grundy noticed with dismay. She had a new pair of runners on, but these ones were loosely laced, almost falling off of her feet. Grundy smirked. This was odd footwear to go with a dress, but on these two, it didn't seem so weird.  
Night, or course, looked exactly like Day, only, exactly opposite. Her dress was dark blue, and had stars decorating it. Her shoes, too, were extremely loose. Both had thrown their hair back, but some was escaping, tumbling down their backs. Grundy sighed.  
"Metria would say those dresses are décolleté," he commented.  
"What?" Day and Night asked confusedly, their faces scrunching up cutely.  
"Low cut, revealing, small…"  
Day and Night laughed. "She wouldn't say that! She'd say they're too big!" Grundy sighed. He just couldn't win with these two.  
Raven, obviously, did not share Grundy's notion. He was staring at the girls, apparently in awe. Day decided not to waste this opportunity of power. She stepped up to Raven, and smiled at him.  
"Do you like my outfit?" she asked demurely, winking at him. Raven nodded dumbly. Day laughed. She looked at Night and smiled. Night gave her the thumbs up. The girls had finally gotten control over Raven!  
Raven shook his head. He appeared to be in shock. Grundy could understand why- the first time a girl had given him that look, he had freaked out. It was almost as potent as seeing a girl's panties!   
But Raven wasn't about to let Day take total control of the situation like that. Regaining consciousness, he smiled at Day. "You look beautiful," he said. This caused her to blush, but having once gotten power, she wasn't easily relenting.  
"Thank you," she said. The blush, of course, only caused her to look even more maidenly, which wasn't a good thing for Raven. Of course, he wasn't going to relent so easily, either.  
"Your hair," he said, reaching down, and gently brushing back a piece that had fallen into Day's eye, "…so silky," he murmured. Day gulped. It appeared Raven was making ground.  
"I-" she started to say, but was cut off, as Raven brought his lips down on hers. And that was the end of it. Raven had control. Day absolutely melted.  
"Oh no!" Night suddenly exclaimed. "In Xanth, you really can melt!" It was true. Day, in fact, was turning into a puddle of mush, as she melted in Raven's embrace. "Quick, stop kissing her!" Night said worriedly. Raven complied. "What to do, what to do…?" Night muttered.  
At that moment, the twins woke up. And threw a pillow at Night. It hit her on her bottom. "Hey!" she said irritably, turning to face them. Then, she got a light bulb. "That's it! Soda, quick!- solidify Day!" Soda, having just woken up, was too tired to question. She pursed her lips, and looked at Day.   
Slowly, Day's body became more solid. First her toes tingled, then her legs, then some more of her legs, and eventually, the rest of her body. "Oh!" she gasped, wiggling her fingers. "Thank you, Soda!" she said, smiling at the girl. Blinking, Soda nodded.  
"You're welcome," she said.  
Day turned back to Raven, and immediately blushed. "Perhaps I should not do that again," Raven said, a cloud of disappointment coming over his face.  
Day grinned wickedly. She had found an opening to take back control. "If you don't, I will!" she said. Then she threw her arms around Raven's neck, and pulled his lips to hers. Raven, stunned, did not respond immediately. But as soon as he realized what was happening, he put his arms around Day, and pulled her close.  
"Ahem," Grundy said, gesturing at the two wide eyed children. "You two are dangerously close to being in violation of the Adult Conspiracy." But the two were too deeply engrossed in each other to hear him. Night, not knowing what the Adult Conspiracy was, but taking a good guess, quickly used her talent to put blindfolds over the children's eyes.   
"Aww, nuts!" came the resounding response. The twins, however, quickly recovered, and tore the blindfolds off. Those were promptly replaced by new blindfolds. This cycle continued for a few moments, until Raven and Day finally broke apart.  
"It's about time!" Night exclaimed. "That was a whopper of a kiss!" Day blushed deep red, and Raven chuckled. Then Night turned to Grundy. "Hey, G-man," she said, "what's the Adult Conspiracy?"  
Grundy shook his head, still stunned. "Uhh- oh, it's the conspiracy that all adults partake in, to keep all interesting facts away from small children," he answered. Then he did a double take. "In fact, as you two are only 16, you're still considered children!" Day and Night laughed.   
"The rules are a little different in Mundania," Night said. "I think we're an exception to the rule." Grundy shrugged, letting this go for now.  
"Can we go home now?" Fizz asked, his hair a huge mess. "We've had enough adventuring for now." Night laughed.  
"Yeah, we can go home," she said. Then she smiled at the kids. She picked up Grundy, careful not to forget him, then said, "Last one there is a rotten egg!" and took off towards the cottage. Lost in a fit of giggles, Soda and Fizz trampled after her. Smiling down at Day, Raven took her hand, and the two followed the others, at a slower pace…  
  
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	19. Dinner AKA Nothing Chapter 3

Dinner Time  
  
  
When they arrived back at the cabin, Soda, Fizz, and Night were all out of breath. Day smiled at them.  
"Have fun?" she asked coyly. Night smirked at her.  
"These kids are really fast," she said, winking at Day. Day winked back.  
"Oh yeah, they outran you for sure!" She smiled. Soda and Fizz grinned.  
"Hehe, that was fun!" they said. Thinking about it, Grundy decided that maybe it wouldn't be so bad having them along. They seemed to get along with the girls really well. Although, Day seemed to be getting along quite well with someone else, lately…  
"Let's go in and get Lyndsey," Night said, stepping up to the cottage. She knocked, and someone called "Come in!" The twins followed close behind her. Grundy was still on her shoulder. The Brain Coral water floated in between Day and Night. Day entered the cottage last, still holding Raven's hand.  
Lyndsey was waiting there to greet them. First she hugged the twins, then Night. Then she hugged Day, who had let go of Raven's hand. "I'm glad you're back!" she said with a smile.  
"Did you have a nice time with your parents?" Day asked.  
"Yes, I did. We talked about everything! We're all caught up, now. And tomorrow, I'll be ready to leave." She smiled, but it was slightly wistful.  
"Don't worry," Night consoled. "You'll be back soon enough." Then they all smiled.   
"Mama! Daddy!" the twins cried, running into the next room. "We had a picnic, and Soda solidified Day, and a race, and-"  
"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Bhut-Khiss said, laughing. The girls, Grundy, and Raven stepped into the next room.  
"I see you had a good adventure?" Seven half-stated, half-asked. She was smiling, and hugging the twins.  
"Oh, it was wonderful," Day said brightly.  
"Just one little mishap," Night said, slightly darkly.  
"Hey!" Grundy exclaimed. "You two just spoke according to your names. That was very Xanthly!"  
Day and Night looked at each other, abashed. "So you're right!" Day said, smiling.  
"I guess it's because we've been here for a while…we're getting used to it," Night said thoughtfully.  
"And Day usually comments first!" Lyndsey added, standing next to her parents.  
"Wow!" Day said brightly.  
"Yeah, wow," Night said, not-so-brightly.  
"Back to matters at hand!" Seven said, smiling happily. "I believe it is about time for dinner!" Eight tummies rumbled in response. Seven laughed heartily. "It shall be ready in a moment. Please have a seat at the table, in the meantime." Then she turned, and went into a different room.  
"Your mom is so nice!" Day commented, sitting down. Raven whispered something in her ear, and she giggled. He sat down next to her. Lyndsey looked at them, interested.  
"So, tell me what happened on your 'adventure'," she said, sitting down. Night also sat down, next to her, and the twins plopped themselves next to Night. Remembering Grundy, Night took him off of her shoulder, and set him on the table. He walked over to the edge, and sat down.  
"Well…" Day began.  
"Raven kissed Day and she melted and then we woke up and then Soda had to solidify her!" Fizz said in one breath. His hair was fraying out everywhere, apparently affected by his mood.  
"And we had a picnic and a race and it was so much fun!" Soda said, similarly fast. Her hair was dancing about, likewise.  
Lyndsey laughed. "So, I take it you two are together?" she said, eyeing Day and Raven. Raven looked confused, but Day laughed and squeezed his hand.  
"Yes, we are together," she said. Raven looked more relaxed, apparently accepting whatever Day said. In this instance.  
"Dinner is ready!" Seven said, bustling into the room. She had armfuls of food. She placed everything on the table, then went back for more. After the second load, she sat down, and her husband sat down after her. "Help yourselves!" she said. So they all did.  
Day and Night dug in, Day eating chips of potatoes and drinking milk from a milkweed pod, and Night eating blackberry pie and chocolate milk from a chocolate milkweed pod. The twins were eating everything in site. Grundy was eating a piece of redberry pie, and Lyndsey was eating some yellowberry pie. Raven was eating some punwheel cookies and cheese.  
"Please pass me the butter-fly, Bhut-Khiss," Seven requested politely. Day and Night burst out laughing. Seven looked at them oddly, and Grundy shot a Look at them. They quieted down.  
"Um, they aren't used to Xanth terms. In Mundania, their butter isn't in the form of a fly," Grundy covered quickly. Seven nodded.  
"That's quite understandable. Don't worry about it, girls," she said, taking the butter-fly from Bhut-Khiss. She pulled its wings off, and spread the butter on her bread. Day flinched.  
"Is it really necessary to hurt that butter-fly?" she asked.  
"Yes, it does seem cruel," Night added.  
Seven just smiled at them. "Oh, don't worry, dears. The butter-fly can't feel anything. It's like your butter, in Mundania, only in a different form. It's not good to eat the wings." The girls settled back down, relaxed.   
"Please pass me the milkweed Pod, dear," Bhut-Khiss said to his wife.  
"Certainly, Bhut-Khiss," Seven said, smiling prettily at him. Day and Night stifled their laughs. Lyndsey had apparently stopped thinking her father's name was overly amusing, as she was his daughter. But she grinned at the two. They grinned back.  
Soon enough, everyone was done eating. The twins were covered in food. Seven laughed.  
"Please excuse me while I take these two to bathe," she said, standing up. "Bhut-Khiss, do you mind clearing the table?" she asked. This brought light sniggers from Day and Night, but they went ignored.   
"Of course I will, sweetheart," he said, standing up. Seven left, dragging two un-impressed twins behind her.   
"If you wish, I can show you to your rooms now," Bhut-Khiss offered.   
"Hmmm…ok," Day said. It wasn't very late, but for some reason, she was tired.  
"Yes, please," Night said. She was apparently tired too.  
"Do I still have a room here?" Lyndsey wondered aloud.  
"Of course you do! We left it exactly as it was," Bhut-Khiss said. Lyndsey smiled.  
"Day and Night will join you in your room, if you don't mind," Bhut-Khiss said. Lyndsey nodded.  
"Oh, of course!" she said, smiling at the two. They smiled back.  
"Just like...," Day started.  
"…a sleepover!" Night finished. The three girls laughed.  
"And you two will be in the guest room," Bhut-Khiss said, indicating Raven and Grundy.  
"That will be fine," Raven said, standing up, and picking up Grundy to place on his shoulder. He went over to Day, and looked at her. Day shivered, slightly uncomfortable. She wasn't used to having someone look at her light that. "Have a good sleep," he murmured. Then he leaned down and kissed her hair. She shivered again, but not from discomfort, this time.  
"Well, let's get going to bed!" Grundy said. He had to intervene before things proceeded any further. Bhut-Khiss nodded. He showed each of them to their rooms, then returned to finish clearing the table. Grundy and Raven settled down and went to sleep right away. The girls weren't so quick to.  
"So, how are you holding up?" Day asked Lyndsey, concerned.  
"Yeah. I mean, sure things look great, but you must be on a roller coaster right now," Night added, also concerned.  
Lyndsey smiled. She understood what Day meant by "holding up," and what Night meant by "roller coaster," as in a roller coaster of emotions. Any other Xanthian might not, but she did. "I'm doing ok. It's a big change, but I really like it here. With my family, I mean. It's nice to finally be back." Day and Night nodded, although it was hard to see them in the dark.  
"I wonder what we'll find tomorrow," Day said dreamily.  
"Hopefully something as nice as Lyndsey did," Night said realistically, but still dreamily.  
"I'm sure it will be wonderful," Lyndsey said. "And who knows- maybe your village will have a boyfriend for me and Night!" That made the three girls erupt in laughter, including Day, who was now blushing so dark that it could be seen, even in the blackness. After the laughter subsided, the girls all settled down, and went to sleep.  
  
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	20. On The Road Again

On The Road Again  
  
The girls awoke the next morning, well after the crack of dawn. Day woke up first, and proceeded to wake Night like she had the last time. Grinning, she stretched, then used her talent to lift Night off the bed. Night was such a heavy sleeper that she didn't even stir. Then Day turned her upside down.  
After she was turned upside down, and floating (the Brain Coral water floating off to the side), Day picked up a pillow, and hit Night with it.  
"Wha-" Night woke up, a startled, angry look on her face. Then she realized she was upside down. "Hey, lemme down!" she said, glaring at Day. Day just fell back onto the bed in a fit of laughter.  
"Oh, it's gonna be like that, is it?" Night asked mischievously. Then three pillows suddenly appeared, and hit Day in the face, one after the other.  
"Oh!" Day said, losing concentration. Night flopped back onto the bed. Lyndsey was startled awake by the commotion.  
"What's going on?" Lyndsey asked sleepily. In answer, she was hit by a pillow. She shook her head. "Pillow fight?" she said slowly. Another pillow hit her. That shook her to awareness. She grabbed a pillow, and jumped into the action.  
A few moments (and a lot of feathers) later, the girls said back, exhausted. "That was fun," Day sighed.  
"Oh yeah, thanks SO much for waking me up," Night said sarcastically, sticking out her tongue. But she was smiling too.  
"I wish this adventure could go on forever," Lyndsey said. "I'm having so much fun!" The girls nodded and smiled, sharing the sentiment. They sat for a couple of minutes, catching their breath. Day, as usual, was the first to speak up.  
"Hey, Night…" she started. "Think we should show Lyndsey your new trick?"   
"Yeah!" Night said enthusiastically. "Definitely!"  
"What are you talking about?" Lyndsey asked, confused.  
"Well, we needed an outfit change yesterday, and we came up with this not-so-crazy idea…" Day started.  
"Actually, Day just needed to impress Raven more." Night laughed dryly. "But anyway, we figured out that I can make outfit changes right on a person, without showing any unnecessary skin!" she finished. "Unless you want to," she added, glancing at Day. Day threw a pillow at her.  
"That's so cool!" Lyndsey exclaimed. "Wow, you guys can do so much with your talents." Then she looked wistful. "I sure hope I can pick up some more neat talents. My own talent seems so boring right now."  
"Aww, don't worry," Day consoled. "I'm sure you can get some in our home town! Or maybe on the way to the Good Magician's castle!"  
"Yeah!" Night agreed. "I'm sure there are plenty of people who want to give their talents away!"  
"Like who?" Lyndsey said darkly. "Would you want to give away yours?" She had a point.  
"Well, don't worry, anyway," Day said brightly. "Everything will turn out fine!"  
"And if not, you can always ask the Good Magician what to do," Night added.  
"I guess you're right. Thanks guys." Then she brightened up, not one to stay in a bad mood for long. "So show me your outfit making, Night! And hey- I have an idea! Let's all design an outfit for each other!" She smiled.  
"That's a great idea!" Day said, taking to the idea. "Good job!" Lyndsey smiled under her praise.  
"Who should we start with?" Night asked. She looked at Lyndsey and Day.  
"Let's start with you!" Lyndsey said, giggling. Day nodded.  
"Ok!" she said happily. Night shrugged, obviously fine with going first.  
"Let's see…" Lyndsey said. "You should have a pretty dark blue shirt. It'll bring out the slightly blue tinge in your hair." A blue shirt appeared on Night, long sleeved. "Less sleeves," Lyndsey said. It became a t-shirt. "Less," Lyndsey said. It became a tank top. "One sleeve," Lyndsey said. A bit more material formed one on shoulder, and it disappeared on the other. "Perfect!" Lyndsey exclaimed. Then she looked thoughtful. "But it's missing one thing…Oh! I know! Line it in silver to bring out your eyes!" Suddenly the shirt was lined with silver.   
"Now, for bottoms," Day said, thinking. "We're going to see our Moms and Dads, so…a skirt!" A tiny mini skirt appeared on Night's legs. "More," Day said. It lengthened to her ankles. "Less," Day said. The skirt shortened to Night's knees. "Perfect!" Then she did a double take. "Oh, it needs colour." She laughed. "Hmm…make it…black. With blue lining." Night did so. "Oh, it looks amazing!" Day exclaimed.  
"Now she needs a necklace," Lyndsey said. "Make it silver chained." A delicate silver chain appeared around Night's neck.  
"With a little moon on it!" Day exclaimed. A small moon appeared on the chain. "Oh, it's so cute!" Day said, looking at the moon.  
"Now you need shoes," Lyndsey said. "How about…sandals!" she said excitedly.  
"Blue ones!" Day added. Blue sandals appeared on Night's feet.  
"How do I look?" she asked the other two, striking a pose.   
"Totally great!" Day said, smiling at Night. "But not quite as great as I'll look!" Night glared at her, but then they both started laughing.  
"I think you look perfect," Lyndsey said.  
"Let's do you next!" Day said. Night nodded in agreement.  
"She should have…a purple shirt." Night pointed at Lyndsey, and a purple shirt appeared.  
"Make it a halter!" Day suggested. Night did so.   
"Oh!" Lyndsey said. "The whole shirt changed! I thought the arms were just getting shorter and longer, but this is a whole new shirt!"  
"Yeah," Night said. "My talent isn't reforming clothes, so we have to do it the hard way." All three girls giggled.  
"She should have a wrap. A pretty one with a nice design," Day said.  
"With purple and blue and suns and moons," Night added. The wrap appeared on Lyndsey's legs.  
"And a necklace…"  
"Silver chain."  
"With a purple heart!" The necklace snapped around her neck.  
"And…"  
"Flip flop sandals!"  
"Black ones!" Lyndsey got sandals.  
"So, do I look great?" Lyndsey asked, striking a pose of her own.  
"Oh yes!" Day said, nodding.  
"The purple really bring out your eyes!"  
"I think it's great!" Lyndsey agreed. "Now for Day."  
"She should have a light blue shirt," Lyndsey said. One appeared.  
"A tube top," Night grinned wickedly, changing Day's shirt. "Raven'll like that." Day blushed.  
"And she should have clam diggers. Nice khaki coloured ones. They should end just below her knee," Lyndsey said, thinking.  
"And let's give her those half-shoes," Night suggested.  
"Half-shoes?" Lyndsey didn't know what those were.  
"You know…sneakers, without the back."  
"Oh! Those sound cute. Yeah, give her a dark blue pair."  
"And a golden necklace to match her golden hair."  
"With a pretty sun on it!" Lyndsey smiled. "Now you're done!"  
"Do I look great?" Day asked coyly, grinning at the two.  
"Definitely!" Lyndsey said.  
"Not better than me!" Night replied with a laugh. They all giggled. In fact, all three of the girls had outfits that successfully pulled in tight all the right areas, and emphasized all the right curves. Put together, the three could knock out any guy.  
"We should do our hair the old fashioned way," Lyndsey suggested.  
"And a bit of makeup, too!" Day offered.  
"Now why would you want makeup? Is it to impress Raven?" Night asked mockingly, making kissing motions in the air.  
"Oh, hush!" Day said, but she was blushing. Laughing, Night and Lyndsey formed a circle around Day. Lyndsey took out a brush, and started brushing Day's soft hair. She pulled part of it back at the top, and put it in a ponytail. Then she braided the ponytail. The end result was golden hair just brushing Day's shoulders, and a cute braid tumbling in the back.  
Next, Night did Lyndsey's hair. She ran her fingers through Lyndsey luxurious brown hair, gently pulling out all of the tangles. Then she lifted it up into a ponytail, but left it slightly messy, creating the effect that Mundanes call a "messy bun." It looked quite cute on Lyndsey.  
Lastly, Day tackled Night's hair. She brushed out Night's hair, then ran her fingers threw it, returning it to its gorgeous wavy style. She knew Night didn't like her hair, though, even though it was stunning, so she pulled it back and braided it. She left two little wisps on either side of her head, and Night smiled. The effect was quite nice.  
The girls all took turns putting a bit of make-up on each other, even finding some Xanthian Lip Bomb. Afterwards, satisfied with their appearances, they went out for breakfast.  
Grundy and Raven were sitting at the table. Bhut-Khiss was serving them breakfast.  
"Ah, good morning, girls." He smiled at them. "My, you're looking particularly radiant today." The girl's blushed. "Seven is just outside with Soda and Fizz, who woke early, and have already eaten. Guinever is with them. Please, sit." The girls sat down, and Bhut-Khiss placed fresh fruit in front of them. They ate it carefully, not dropping any on their clothing, or smudging their makeup. During the meal, Raven snuck glances at Day, and looked quite impressed and pleased. She of course pretended not to notice, but blushed with satisfaction.  
They finished, and Bhut-Khiss cleared the table. Lyndsey stood up and gave him a hug. "Take care," he said, and showed them to the door. "Hurry back," he said, giving Lyndsey a meaningful glance. She smiled at him and nodded.  
"Don't worry," she said. He smiled back, and returned inside.  
In the yard, running in circles, were Soda and Fizz. Guinever sat by Seven's foot, who was watching the children play. As she saw them approach, she stood up.   
"Thank goodness," she said. "I love them, but I'm certainly ready for a little break!" Then she glanced around the group. "That is, as long as you're still willing to take them."  
"Of course!" Day and Night answered in unison. They liked the children. Soda and Fizz finally looked up, and ran to the girls. The girls laughed, and made faces at them.  
"Hey, want a piggy back ride?" Day asked Soda. The child looked confused. "Oh! You don't know what that is! I forgot!" Day said. "Well, you just ride on my back!" she exclaimed. The child still looked a little confused, but smiled.  
"Ok!" she said. Then Day knelt down, and the child clambered onto her back. "Wheee! This is fun!!" the child cried, as Day ran around the yard.  
"I want one too, I want one too!" Fizz begged, pulling at Night. She laughed, and knelt down for him. He jumped on to her back, and she started running around. Fizz exploded in laughter.  
"Well, I think they'll be alright," Seven said, smiling at Lyndsey. "But you take good care of yourself, and hurry back," she said. Lyndsey nodded.  
"I will, Mom. Don't worry." Then they hugged, and Seven retreated to the cottage. Guinever followed her. Lyndsey looked a little surprised, but didn't protest.  
"Shall we go?" Raven asked, his eyes fixed on Day. Lyndsey laughed.  
"Yeah, let's go get them." Smiling, she headed towards the girls. It was time to go!  
  
************************************************************************ 


	21. Home Again

Home Again  
Lyndsey smiled as she approached the others. Day and Night got along so well with Soda and Fizz! Right now, they were having piggy-back races. It looked like Day and Soda were winning.  
"I'll liquefy your legs!" shouted Fizz. Oops- it had gone a little too far.  
"Well, I guess we better get going!" Lyndsey said, stepping in. Day and Night put down Soda and Fizz.  
"Thanks for the race, guys!" Day said. She looked a little out of breath.  
"Yeah, thanks!" Night said. She too, looked out of breath.  
The twins giggled. "You're welcome!" they said.   
"They're behaving quite well," Grundy said from Raven's shoulder. Everyone looked at him, startled. "What?" he asked. "HE remembered to pick me up on the way out." His voice sounded slightly hurt.   
"Aww…I'm sorry, Grundy," Day said, leaning up on Raven, and giving Grundy a little kiss, which for him was a big kiss. He would have been quite flustered, had he not been sure that Day was just doing it to tantalize Raven.  
"I'm sorry too," Night said, but she kept her distance. "We won't forget you again!"  
"Promise!" the twins chimed in. Lyndsey smiled.  
"Yeah! We promise." Then they all smiled.  
"So…how are we going to get there?" Grundy asked.   
"I think we may as well go the fast way," Day said. "We have a long day ahead of us."  
"Yeah…we still have to go see the Good Magician, and deliver this," Night said, gesturing at the Brain Coral water. The water floated evenly between the two girls.  
"Ok. Who goes first?" Grundy asked.  
"I will," Lyndsey volunteered.   
"Ok," Day said. Then she raised her arm, and…Lyndsey was gone.  
"Me next, me next!" Soda was shouting, jumping up and down.  
"No, me!" Fizz yelled.  
Day looked thoughtful. "I think I can solve this," she said. "Hold hands." The twins did so, now looking confused. Day raised her arm, and concentrated on sending both of the twins. A moment later, they disappeared. Day smiled.  
"Hey, I think your talent is growing!" Grundy commented. She blushed.  
"Thank you."  
"I guess Raven and I will go next," Grundy said, "since you're able to send more than one person at once." He smirked.  
"Actually, I think I'll send you separately," Day said, looking concerned. "The twins were pretty small, and you're smaller, Grundy, but Raven…" she trailed off, looking up at him. He smiled.  
"Ok, we'll go separately," Grundy broke in. "Put me down, please," he said to Raven. Raven lifted him off his shoulder and put him on the ground. A moment later, Grundy was gone.  
"Take the Brain Coral," Day said to Night. Night opened her mouth to protest, thinking she would go second last, but a moment later she was gone. The Brain Coral was gone with her.  
"Am I to be sent next?" Raven said, looking down at Day. He was smiling. She gave him an odd look.  
"I'm going to teach you how to talk Mundane style," she said, grinning. Now he looked confused. "Say it like this- me next?" Raven gave Day a very strange look, but opened his mouth.  
"…Me next?" he said slowly. Day smiled and clapped her hands. Then she kissed Raven squarely on the mouth. He was knocked back.  
"Oops, I forgot about the lip bomb!" she said. "Sorry!" She ran to his side. Little hearts were floating around his head.  
"I..uhh…" Raven stuttered.  
Day laughed. "We'll work on it." Raven just looked dreamily up at her. "That's some powerful stuff," she said. Then she stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, here we go!" she said. A moment later Raven was gone. And then, so was she. When she opened her eyes, she was in the middle of a small village. Night was off to the side, chasing Soda and Fizz. Grundy was sitting on the ground, not far from where she was. She knelt down and picked him up.  
"Where's Lyndsey?" she asked.  
"Over there," Grundy said, pointing. Day looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw Lyndsey. She was talking to someone. It was a guy! "Hey, good for her!" Day said. Then she remembered Raven. "Oopsie." She walked over to him. He was still slightly zonked out. She took his hand.  
"Just stick close to me," she said. He nodded dumbly.  
"What'd you do to him?" Grundy asked.  
"Lip Bomb." Grundy nodded. Enough said.  
"Hey! Night!" Day called. Night looked up. So did the twins. "Think we should go find our parents now?" They came over, the Brain Coral water bobbing in the air behind Night.  
"Sure," she said. The twins nodded. Apparently, whatever Night said, went.   
"Let's go get Lyndsey, then," Day said. They all walked over to where Lyndsey was talking to an attractive boy. He was tall, but not as tall as Raven. Day guessed he was about 6 feet even. He was quite muscular, and had blonde hair. His eyes…were they blue? No, they were green. No wait, now they were brown! Day blinked, confused.  
"Night, did you see his eyes? They keep changing colour!"  
"I know!" Night said. "Ever strange!" Day nodded in agreement.  
"Hi, I'm Day-" Day stopped mid-sentence, staring at the boy. She blinked. Her mouth dropped open. Night was having a similar experience.  
"He's not THAT good looking, is he?" Grundy asked sarcastically. In reality, he really WAS that good looking, but that's not why Day and Night were staring.  
"He looks so…" Day whispered.  
"…familiar," Night finished, also whispering. The boy had not taken his eyes off of Lyndsey, until now. When he looked at the two, he looked confused.  
"Do I know you?" he asked. "You look really familiar!"   
"Um…I'm not sure," Day said lamely. "But you look familiar too!"  
"Day, Night, this is Peep. His name means morning." Lyndsey was looking oddly from person to person.  
"Morning…Day…Night…" Grundy murmured.  
"You must be…" Day started.  
"…my brother!" Day and Night exclaimed at the same time. Then they looked at each other.  
"Could the stork mess up that badly?" Day asked.  
"I think so," Night said.  
"Umm…if you don't mind…what are you talking about?" Peep asked, looking confused.  
"Well, we kinda look like twins, don't we?" Day asked. Peep nodded.  
"We're not," Night said. "Well, not really. We got delivered to two different families."  
"But everyone thinks the storks just messed up, and we really are sisters," Day said.  
"And…we think you're our brother. I mean, that feeling we got when we saw you…like we know you…" Night said, trailing off. Peep was nodding.  
"It sounds crazy, but I think I agree." Peep was looking as stunned as they were.  
"Well, that was weird," Lyndsey said.   
"I'm grateful, anyway," Peep said, smiling. "You brought me my new girlfriend!" Then he grinned at Lyndsey. She blushed.  
"New girlfriend, eh? Looks like we might have a new sister, soon!" Day said, laughing. Everyone else joined in, too.  
"So, what are you here for, anyway?" Peep asked, his arm around Lyndsey.  
"We need to talk to our parents," Day said.  
"Who are your parents?" Peep asked. "I probably know them."  
"My mom and dad are Frita and Harper," Day said.  
"Mine are Mangalo, and Sybille," Night said.  
Peep looked stricken. "That's….really, really weird," he said. "And I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this…but…Frita, your mom," he said to Day, "And Mangalo, your dad…well, they died." He looked almost sick to his stomach.  
This took a moment to digest with the girls. "Dead?" Day squeaked. She fell against Raven, who put his arms around her. Night blinked back tears, and the two small twins clung to her.   
"How?" Night asked.  
"It was…well, it was about 10 years ago. A dragon raided the village…they both died…along with my parents. Sybille and Harper…they got married a few years later, and took over raising me." Lyndsey squeezed his hand, as this obviously wasn't easy for him, either.  
"So, I guess we really are siblings, then," Day said, trying to smile. It didn't work well. There were big tears threatening to spill over her eyes. She went to Night, and hugged her. "Let's go see our mom and dad," she said, her eyes watery.  
"Yeah…let's go," Night nodded, teary-eyed herself.  
"I'll take you to them," Peep said, still holding on to Lyndsey. "They live right over here." He let them towards a cottage. As they approached, a man and a woman came out. It was the moment of truth. Day and Night were about to re-meet their parents.  
  
************************************************************************************** 


	22. Meeting Mitchelle

Meeting Mitchelle…and Ip  
As they approached the cottage, Lyndsey grabbed the twins' hands, and took Grundy off of Day's shoulder. They hung back with Raven as Day, Night, and Peep went up to the cottage.  
Peep stepped up first. "Mom, Dad…this is Day and Night," he said. Sybille and Harper looked confused. They were both about 40. The woman had gorgeous long black hair, and fair skin. The man had bright blonde hair. She had blue eyes, and he, green.  
"Day…and Night?" Sybille asked, disbelieving. "But…you…they…disappeared. Eleven years ago!" She looked like she was going to faint. Harper put his arm around her to keep her up.  
"If that's true…then, you," he said, looking at Day. "You are my daughter." Day, tears in her eyes, nodded. Harper looked at Sybille.  
"Sybille," he said. "I think they are our girls. Look at them. They look just like them. And…do you feel that? That feeling?" Sybille nodded, tears in her eyes now, too.  
"My baby!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Night. When their hug ended, she looked at Day. "And…my other baby." She put her arms around Day, and squeezed her tightly. Harper hugged them both next. Everyone had gone teary eyed.  
"What happened to you?" Sybille asked, sniffling.  
"Uhh…that would be my fault," Day said, looking sheepish through her tears. "You see…my talent is to move anything animate." Harper and Sybille looked stunned. They had known Night's talent, but Day's had not been very strong before, and they had not known what it was. "Well, when we were little…I was experimenting with my talent, and I kinda transported myself, and Night, off to Mundania." Sybille gasped, and Harper hugged the girls again.  
"That doesn't matter," he said. "What matters is that you're back now."  
"Yes, that is what matters," Sybille said. "I'm only sorry that…that you didn't come back before…" she trailed off, unable to finish.  
"I think she means she's sorry you didn't get to see Frita and Mangalo," Harper said, unable to say any more himself.  
"We're sorry about that, too. But at least we still have you," Day said. They all smiled.  
"And don't forget me!" Peep said. At that, everyone had to laugh. The mood changed to a happy one. Day and Night, after all, didn't really remember Frita and Mangalo very well, and they had just found a brother, and been re-united with Harper and Sybille.  
"Aw, we love you too, Peep," Day said, giving him a quick hug. Night joined in. Lyndsey, looking up, walked over.  
"Oh yeah! Mom, Dad," Day said, pronouncing both Mom and Dad clearly, "this is Lyndsey," she said, nodding at Lyndsey.  
"Peep's girlfriend," Night added, hey eyes twinkling mischievously.  
"That's right!" Peep said, putting his arm around Lyndsey. Lyndsey blushed. Harper and Sybille raised their eyes, but they were smiling.  
"And these are Soda and Fizz," Day said, gesturing to the two wild-haired twins. "And that's Grundy," she said, pointing to Grundy, who was on Lyndsey's shoulder.  
"And that's Day's boyfriend, Raven!" Night said, grinning wickedly. Day blushed.  
"Yep, this is Raven," she said, shooting a Look at her sister. Night grinned at her, and Day had to smile back.  
"Well, I imagine this is quite overwhelming for you, as well," Sybille said, smiling at the girls. "Why don't we go inside and have some lunch, and we can talk?" she suggested.   
"Yay! Lunch!" Soda and Fizz said. Everyone laughed.  
"Guess it's decided then," Harper said. "Let's go get some grub!" he smiled at the two small twins, and at the three older siblings. They all piled into the cottage. Sybille went off into the kitchen, and Harper showed them to a middle-sized table.  
"Um, I apologize," he said. "But I'm not sure if there's enough room at the table for everyone." He looked very apologetic.  
"No problem, Dad!" Night said. "I can fix that!" And she blinked. The table was now longer, and there were four more chairs around it.  
"Wow!" he said. "Thanks! That's great!" He smiled.  
"Jeez," Peep muttered. "I think I got gypped out of the good talents!" he said. But he was grinning.  
"What IS your talent?" Day asked, curious. Night was paying attention now too, as was Lyndsey. Soda and Fizz had sat down at the table.  
"I can make it day or night," he said. Then he laughed. Day and Night laughed too.  
"That's funny," Day said.  
"Quite funny," Night added.  
"But pretty strong," Lyndsey said. Peep smiled at her appreciatively, and she blushed.  
"Lots of strong magic in this family!" Harper said. Then he looked thoughtful. "Well, except for the parents, I guess." Then he laughed. This time, Night asked.  
"What's your talent?" She and Day had both forgotten, having been young at the time, and Night hadn't lived with Harper at the time, either.  
"My talent is to dance any dance that anyone requests. And Sybille's is to sing any song that anyone requests. Entertaining, but not overly useful," Harper said. He smiled, and everyone else smiled with him.  
"Hey Lyndsey, I just realized something," Day said.  
"What's that?" she asked.  
"We never asked what your parents' talents were!" Night said, finished Day's thought.  
"Hey, you're right!" she said. "I totally forgot about that!"  
"We know what they are!" Soda and Fizz said.  
"What are they?" Lyndsey asked.  
"Mom can conjure green vegetables," Soda said, her face twisting in disgust. "We don't like that talent."  
"But Dad can make any flavour of eye scream! We like his talent!" Fizz said. smiling. Soda smiled too.  
"Those are neat talents," Lyndsey said, smiling at her younger brother and sister. Then she sat down at the table, and put Grundy down. Day, Night, Peep, Raven, and Harper sat down, too. A moment later, Sybille brought in a large variety of fruits, vegetables, and bread.  
"Hey, Raven," Day said, turning to Raven. "We never asked you what your talent is, either!"   
"Yeah, what is it?" Night asked.  
"I have the ability to…that is, I summon ravens," he said, glancing at Day. She smiled at him.  
"That's a cool talent!" she said. He smiled. Then everyone turned to the meal. They managed to get through it without any disasters. As soon as Soda and Fizz finished, they wanted to go outside. Lyndsey took them out, and Peep went with her.  
"They sure took to each other fast!" Day commented.  
"I think that's the way it goes, in Xanth," Night said sarcastically, glancing at Raven.  
"Well, I'm happy for them, anyway," Day said, sticking her tongue out at Night.  
"So, will you be staying a while?" Harper asked, after the table had been cleared.  
"Actually, we have to go to the Good Magician's castle," Day said.  
"But we'll come back after that!" Night added.  
"That's very close to here," Sybille said. "So you won't take long." But she looked unsure.  
"Don't worry, Mom," Day said. "You're right…we won't take long. We've already been gone for most of our lives. It's time to spend some time here." She smiled at Sybille, and Sybille smiled back.  
"Yeah, definitely," Night said. "The Good Magician will know how to let us stay here." She looked thoughtful.  
"Well, we may as well get right on our way," Day said.  
"Why don't you leave those two darling children with us?" Sybille asked. "It's been a long time since we've had any around."  
"Sure! Let's ask them if they want to stay," Day said. Then everyone went outside. Soda and Fizz were running around, and Peep and Lyndsey were off to the side. They were holding hands.  
"Aww, young love!" Day said, coming up behind them. Lyndsey jumped.  
"Same to you!" Peep said, smiling. Day laughed.  
"Touche!" she said.  
"Hey Soda! Fizz!" Night called. They twins came trotting over. "How would you like to stay with Sybille and Harper for a little while?"  
"Ok!" the twins said. "We like it here! Lots of room to run around!" They were smiling. Grundy, who was now on Day's shoulder, looked pensive.  
"Maybe I'd better stay too. Just to look after them," he said.  
"Well if all you guys are staying, I'd better go!" Peep said. Everyone laughed.  
"Makes sense to me!" Day said. So she, Raven, Night, Lyndsey, and Peep set off. Waving goodbye to their parents, Grundy, and the twins, they started off.  
They had only been walking in the woods for a few moments when they came upon a girl. She was looking angry, and was kicking a tree.  
"Hey, what's the matter?" Day called. She wasn't afraid of the girl. With herself and her companions, they were well enough equipped to deal with just about anything.  
"I hate my life!" the girl said angrily. "My family sucked, so I moved away, but now I'm alone, and it's no better!"  
"Well, that sucks," Day said.  
"Maybe you should come with us," Lyndsey volunteered.  
"Yeah," Night said. "We're going to see the Good Magician. He'd know what to do." The girl brightened, a little.  
"I guess so," she said. "I have nothing better to go, anyway. My name's Mitchelle," she said.  
"Hi Mitchelle," Day said. "I'm Day. This is my sister Night, and my brother, Peep. And this is our friend Lyndsey, and my boyfriend, Raven." Mitchelle's eyes opened wide at all the new names, but she nodded.   
"Nice to meet you all," she said. She had blonde hair, almost white, and her skin was very pale. She had piercing blue eyes.  
"Oh yeah," Day said. "What's your talent?" After forgetting to ask so many people, she had made a mental note to remember to ask the next person they met.  
"Oh…it's conjuring apples," she said. "Pretty pointless, I know. I wish it were scoring goals in hockey, or something cool, but it's not."  
"They have hockey in Xanth?" Day asked, surprised.  
"Well, not really," Mitchelle admitted. "It's just something I dream about, sometimes." Day nodded, and they group continued walking. Day was in the front, holding hands with Raven. Behind them were Night and Mitchelle, who were talking animatedly, and lastly were Lyndsey and Peep, who were also holding hands. They hadn't gotten much farther, when they came upon another person.   
"Hi, who are- " Day started.  
"I'm Ip," the man said. He looked to be about 20, and had brown hair and eyes. He was a pretty non-descript person.  
"Nice to meet-" Night began to say.  
"Nice to meet you too," Ip said.  
"Listen, why do you keep interup-" Lyndsey tried to ask.  
"It's my talent," Ip said. "I'm really sorry."  
"What exactly is your-" Mitchelle attempted to ask him what his talent is.  
"To interrupt people," Ip interrupted. "I just hate it."  
"I can see wh-" Peep started.  
"Look at that tree!" Ip said. "See, I have to say something, even when there's nothing to say! I wish I could fix this." Poor Ip looked heartbroken.  
"Why do you not…" Raven stopped his own sentence, so Ip didn't have to. "Why don't you join-" Raven had spoken in Mundane terms. Day smiled and winked at him, and gave him a quick kiss.  
"Where are you going?" Ip asked.  
"To see the Good Magici-" Lyndsey started.  
"Great! I'll come!" Ip said.  
"Maybe we should all stop talki-" Day almost said.  
"That's a good idea," Ip said. Rolling their eyes, everyone walked onward.  
Just before they reached the Gap Chasm, they came upon seven dwarves. "Oh boy, here we go agai-" Day just about said.  
"Look!" Ip said. "Dwarves."  
"I'm sorry, Ip, but I'm going to have to move you for a mome-" Day tried to say.  
"Don't worry about it," Ip said. "No harm done." Day raised her arm, and moved Ip to a vacate place in the forest. Then they approached the dwarves.  
"Hello!" Lyndsey called. "Are you friendly dwarves?"  
The dwarves came marching up, but paid no attention to Lyndsey. Instead, they stood in front of Mitchelle.  
"Oh, you're so beautiful!" the first dwarf, who looked kind of tired, said.  
"And you smell so nice!" the second dward, who looked sort of dopey, said.  
"And so kind!" the third, who was dressed as a doctor, said. This continued through all seven, who were gawking at Mitchelle. She had raised her eyes, but was looking pleased.  
"Please come live with us!" all the dwarves said in unison.  
"Guys, I think I found the solution to my problem," Mitchelle said, smiling.  
"Does that mean you'll come with us, pretty snow white girl?" the first dwarf asked.  
"Yep, it does!" Mitchelle said. Then she walked away, hand in hand with the dwarves. She waved to the girls, Raven, and Peep as she left. She was smiling. The last they had heard of her, the dwarves had re-named her Snow White, to match her appearance. They had been living happily in the woods, until one day an evil Sorceress put a spell on one of Snow White's apples, and it was turned to poison. Unwittingly, Snow White ate it, and was put under a Sleep Spell. Only a person with a good talent would be able to wake her up…  
But in the meantime, they had crossed the Chasm. "Oops, guess I should bring Ip back," Day said. She raised her arm and brought him back.  
"Welcome ba-" Night attempted to say.  
"Thanks! Are we almost there?" Ip asked.  
"Yes, we are…we're approaching…coming, to the cast-" Raven said, correcting himself as he went. He was earning some serious points with Day.  
"Great!" Ip said. "Let's get going." So the group walked towards the castle. Day, Night, Raven, and Peep were able to entre without Challenges, but Lyndsey and Ip were unable to pass.  
"I didn't know I had a Questi-" Lyndsey almost said, startled.  
"I guess we'll both have to go through the Challenges," Ip said.  
"You go on ahe-," Lyndsey said to Day and Night.  
"We'll be ok," Ip said.  
"I'll stay with-" Peep said, taking Lyndsey's hand.  
"How nice of you to offer!" Ip said.   
Day sighed. "I guess it makes the most sen-"  
"Yes it does," Ip said.  
"Have fu-" Night said. Lyndsey rolled her eyes.  
"Good-" Day started.  
"…luck!" Night finished.  
"Hey!" Ip said. "You made a sentence!" He sounded happy.  
"I guess it's possible-" Day said.  
"…to finish," Night went on.  
"…if we cut off ourselves, first!" Day finished. They smiled.  
"Wonderful!" Ip said.  
"Good-" Lyndsey said, smiling at Peep.  
"…to know!" he said, smiling back at her.  
"See you-"  
"…in there!" Day and Night said. Then they turned, and went into the castle, Raven with them.  
"Hey, who's that?" Day asked, now able to speak in full sentences. There was a boy walking towards them.  
"I don't know, but he looks pretty hot," Night said. She sighed in relief- Ip's talent really was quite annoying. Raven put his arm around Day, as if a show of possession. She laughed.  
"Don't worry, Raven," she said. "I don't care how hot that guy is…I only have eyes for you!" He smiled, and leaned down and kissed her.  
"Hey!" Night exclaimed. "It's Derek! And Metria!" Day looked up.  
"So it is!" she said. "Hey, Derek!" she called.  
"Hey! Mya! Steph!" he called. Then he shook his head. "Uh, I mean, Day and Night!" They laughed.  
"How's the adventure going?" Day asked.  
"Not bad," Derek said. He glanced at Metria, who was at the moment portraying herself as a nude blonde. "We just asked the Good Magician were I'm supposed to go to get my talent. Turns out seven dwarves have it."  
"That's neat. Good luck!" Day said.  
"Yeah, hope everything works out," she said, eyeing Metria.   
"Thanks!" Derek said. Then he walked off, a now brunette nude Metria coiling around him. The last the girls had heard of him, he had gotten his Talent of Waking Maidens With a Kiss, and had used it to wake up Mitchelle- er, Snow White. Apparently, they were living Happily Ever After.  
Day, Night, and Raven made their way up to the castle. The Brain Coral water was bobbing between them. They knocked on the door, and Wira answered.  
"Hello, Day and Night! I'm so glad to have you back!" she smiled. "And nice to meet you, Raven," she said.  
"Hey, Wira! Good to see you again, too," Day said.   
"Please come in," Wira said, stepping back. They all entered the castle. For better or worse, it was the moment of truth!  
  
****************************************************************** 


	23. Three More Challenges

Lyndsey's Three Challenges  
"Well, I guess we'll just have to-" Lyndsey tried to say, looking up at the castle.  
"We'll have to tackle the challenges," Ip said, looking pained.  
"Let's get to-" Peep started to say, enthusiastically.  
"I really hate interrupting," Ip interrupted. Peep and Lyndsey rolled their eyes. Lyndsey sent Peep a Meaningful Look, and he nodded.   
"Maybe we should complete the-" Lyndsey started.  
"…challenges without talking," Peep finished. Then he smiled at Lyndsey. She smiled back.  
"That's a great idea!" Ip said. He brightened up a little.  
The three approached the moat. In it was a moat monster.   
Peep approached it first. He attempted to step into the water. The monster reared up at him. Peep backed off, daunted.  
Next, Ip stepped up. He walked to the edge of the moat, looking around. He seemed to be looking for a boat, or something. He couldn't find one. He backed off, shrugging. Apparently his plan had depended on his finding a boat.  
Lyndsey was last. She didn't know what to do. Obviously, they couldn't swim across the moat, and there was no boat to take across. The drawbridge was closed, too.   
She thought about their talents. She didn't think Ip's talent would be any good, ever, never mind in this situation, and she didn't see what good it would do to make it night. She herself didn't have any extra talents that would be useful. Or did she? Her good memory wouldn't do much, but what about the yak's ability to speak? She had learned to talk enough without needing the talent anymore. If she gave the moat monster the yak's talent of speech, and then set Ip loose on it…  
"Hey, moat mon-" she called.  
"What are you doing?" Ip interrupted.  
"Want a tal-"  
"What's the plan??" Ip asked. Peep looked confused, too. He and Lyndsey were in tune with each other already, but not THAT in tune.  
"…ent?" she finished, moving closer to the moat. The monster looked up, interested. It was possibly only interested because a pretty girl was approaching it, but it was still interested.  
Lyndsey shot Peep a glance that meant to play along. He nodded, trusting her, even though he was still confused.  
"Want a-" Lyndsey started.  
"…talent?" Peep asked.  
"Tal-"  
"…ent?"  
"Tal-"  
"…ent?"  
The moat monster was looking from person to person, thoroughly confused. That was understandable- moat monsters weren't known for their intellect. Lyndsey chose this moment to hold out her hand, touch the monster's slimy back, and transfer the talent of speech into it. Then she jumped back. Peep and Ip just stared at her.  
"What?" the moat monster asked. Ip hadn't interrupted it, as it hadn't completed a full sentence.  
"I gave you-" Lyndsey said.  
"What did you do that for?" Pip asked.  
"A talent," she finished. The moat monster looked overwhelmed.  
"What?" it asked.  
"Why? Ip asked.  
"Play-"  
"…along-"  
"..Ip," Lyndsey and Peep said together. Ip shrugged and nodded.  
"Here is our-" Lyndsey paused on her own, unsure of what to call Ip. Was he a friend? Peep covered for her.  
"…fellow inquirer, Ip."  
"You should talk," Lyndsey said.  
"…to him." Peep finished. Ip looked at them strangely, and they nodded. He shrugged again, and walked to the moat monster. They began to talk animatedly, Ip interrupting every sentence the moat monster could manage to say. This was increasingly frustrating, as the monster was just learning to talk. Every time it almost had it right, Ip interrupted. Finally, the poor monster fainted, exhausted from the effort.  
"Now!" Lyndsey cried, using the moat monster as a platform to run across the moat. The others ran quickly behind her. They had gotten past the first challenge!  
Lyndsey looked up. They were standing at the bottom of a very large hill. There were no stairs, and no animals nearby. Lyndsey decided to make the assumption that the Challenges were set up to test the talents of the contestants. She decided it must be Peep's turn.  
"Peep," she said, uninterrupted, as she had not spoken a full sentence. "Use your-"  
"What's the plan this time?" Ip interrupted.  
"…talent," Lyndsey finished. Peep looked confused, as he had before, but he shrugged, and complied. He lifted an arm, Day style, and closed his eyes, Night style. When he lowered his arm, and opened his eyes, it was nighttime. The hill had turned from an upward slope to a downward one.  
"Again," Lyndsey said. She was learning a new way to outmaneuver Ip's talent of interruption.  
So Peep closed his eyes, and raised an arm. When he opened them, and lowered it, it was morning. The slope had gone back to uphill. Lyndsey scrunched up her face, thinking.  
"Ip," she said, a small lightbulb forming on top of her head. "How strong is your-"  
"My what?" Ip asked.  
"Your talent?" Lyndsey asked.  
Ip looked taken aback. "Well, I don't know," he said. "Nobody's ever paid much attention to it. Or me," he frowned. "My talent is quite annoying," he admitted. Lyndsey glanced at Peep, and nodded. Ip continued talking. "Anyway, I'm not sure how strong it is. Why?"  
"Is it limited to-"  
"To what?" Ip interjected.  
"To interrupting sentences?" Lyndsey asked, somewhat irritably.  
"I don't know," Ip said. He cocked an eyebrow. "Why? What do you have in mind?" Peep also looked very confused, but had kept his mouth shut, not wanting to be interrupted by Ip.  
"Day, uphill," she said, not using full sentences. "Night, downhill. You interrupt-"  
"Yes I do," Ip said. Apparently his talent recognized short commands.  
"…interrupt Peep's talent-"  
"I could try," Ip said. Apparently that counted, too.  
"…make it afternoon, flat ground!" she spat out. The boys looked at her, impressed.  
"That could work!" Ip said, voicing the opinion of both of them. "But not if Peep is a Magician, and I'm just spot-on-the-wall. Everyone knows it takes a Magician to outdo a Magician. And even they can't, sometimes," Ip said.  
"Well, maybe Peep isn't-" Lyndsey said.  
"But he could be," Ip said.  
"And maybe you are-" Lyndsey commented.  
"I doubt it," Ip said, raising an eyebrow.  
"Try," Lyndsey coaxed. Peep and Ip shrugged. Peep closed his eyes, raised his arm, and verbally said, "Change the tim-" (well, almost said it), while he was going through the motions. Ip concentrated hard on him, and when he spoke, he interrupted.  
"Make it afternoon," he said. Everything went dark. Then it went slightly lighter. There was a swirl of colours, and suddenly-  
"IT WORKED!" Ip exclaimed.  
"Good!" Peep said brightly, smiling at Lyndsey. She blushed, and he hugged her. The land had gone flat, and it was afternoon.   
"I wonder how it happened," Ip wondered. "Maybe I was only able to interrupt because he spoke verbally. Normally he wouldn't. Or maybe it's just for the purpose of the Challenge." Ip continued rattling off theories that all insulted his talent, and complimented Peeps. The trio continued onward, into the courtyard.  
There they encountered a strange sight. It was an odd sort of creature, and it was muttering something.   
"Hey!" Lyndsey called. "What are you-" She wasn't asking what the creature was, but rather, what it was muttering, so she was interrupted.  
"This is weird," Ip said.  
"…muttering?" Lyndsey finished. The creature looked up. It had the upper torso of a human male, but its lower half was what sort of resembled a Mundane giraffe.  
"I won't let you-" the creature started to say.  
"Won't let us what?" Ip asked.  
"I won't let you-" the creature tried again.  
"What?" Ip asked. The creature got angry.  
"PASS! I WON'T LET YOU-"  
"Oh, you won't let us pass," Ip concluded. The creature turned bright red. Peep shot Lyndsey a Look, and she understood it, and nodded. They had to take over the situation.  
"Are you a-" Lyndsey started.  
"…Challenge?" Peep finished.  
"Yes," the creature said, sneering.  
"What is the nature of-"  
"…this Challenge?"  
"To pass-" The creature was going to say 'to pass me.'  
"Oh, we have to get by you," Ip said. The creature glared.  
"Please excuse-"  
"…him. His talent is to-"  
"…interrupt people." The creature simply looked at them.  
"What is-" Lyndsey started.  
"…you talent?" Peep asked.  
"Impassability," the creature answered. Apparently it wasn't part of the Challenge to have the creature lie.  
Lyndsey thought. If she could take the creature's talent, they could pass by. But the creature would not let her get close enough. Unless it was distracted. And dark… She formulated a plan, a lightbulb flashing brightly on top of her head.  
"Peep- talent," she said, not using a full sentence. "Ip, talent!" she said. The boys looked a bit confused, but complied. Ip went over, and began annoying the human/giraffe thing crossbreed, and Peep changed it to night. Lyndsey walked over to the creature, and touched it. "Please let this work," she murmured, remembering that her talent only worked when the other creature was willing to give away their talent.  
She felt something happening. She was receiving the thing's talent! It had worked! "Yes!" she cried.  
"Oh..." the creature said. "You win." Then it strutted off, not looking angry.   
"How?" Lyndsey asked.  
"Well, you're a Sorceress. Or at least a Neo-Sorceress. Peep could be a Magician, and I…have some magic," Ip said. He was the likely choice to explain, because he wouldn't interrupt himself. "There are bound to be loopholes. When three gang up against one, especially when two are powerful…well, the odds aren't good for the one," he said. Lyndsey smiled, impressed.  
"Good thinking!" she said. Ip smiled.  
"Thanks," he said. Peep grabbed Lyndsey's hand.  
"Shall we-" he started.  
"Go see the Magician?" Ip finished. They all laughed.   
"Yep," Lyndsey said. The three of them walked towards the door. It was time to see what their Questions were!  
  
************************************************************************ 


	24. The Second Last Chapter

The Second Last Chapter  
Just as Lyndsey was about to reach up and knock on the door, it swung open. Wira was standing there.   
"Hello Lynds!" she said happily, reaching and giving her a hug. "Ip, Peep, it is a pleasure-." She smiled at them.  
"Good to meet you too," Ip said. He was smiling too. Wira had deliberately shortened Lyndsey's name so he wouldn't interrupt, and had stopped her previous sentence on her own. Ip was pleased that he didn't feel like he was being rude.  
"Pleasure," Peep said, grinning. He knew how to dance around Ip's talent, too.  
"Please come," Wira said, stepping back. She gestured into the castle. The trio stepped in. "Ip, you will-" she started, nodding towards a separate room.  
"Wait here," he finished sadly. "I know the drill." No one liked to send him away; they had all grown to like him, despite his unusual talent. But it was necessary for him to be gone if they were to have a real conversation.  
Ip walked into the other room, and the others sat down. "I will fetch Day, Night, and Raven," Wira said, stepping out. "And Grundy," she added. Lyndsey hit her head. She had forgotten about Grundy again! Poor little guy. She'd have to remember to apologize. A moment later, Day and Night stepped in. Grundy was on Night's shoulder. Raven was by Day's side. The Brain Coral water was no longer with them.   
"What happened?" Lyndsey asked, rushing up to them.   
"Umm…" Day started.  
"It was kinda weird," Night said.  
"We brought him the Brain Coral water…"  
"…and asked him how we could stay in Xanth."  
"That's what we both want," Day said, smiling up at Raven.  
"And he said that the answer would arrive shortly," Night said, "even though we don't know what that means."  
"And he wouldn't tell us what the Brain Coral water was for," Day said, frowning. Apparently, the girls both felt a little disappointed.  
"I do so dislike to have people unhappy," Wira said. "I believe I can explain a little." The girls smiled and nodded eagerly. "I believe the Good Magician will use the Brain Coral water will a reverse spell, which will cause him to be able to sleep in it for a short period of time, but it will seem like an eternity, to him. He does not get much rest around here." The girls' eyes opened wide. That was so clever! "As for your answer, we have a visitor expected soon. She must be what you need." Day and Night nodded. That was enough of an explanation for them.  
"What about my Question?" Lyndsey asked. "I don't even know what it is." Wira smiled.  
"I believe you do. And if you truly do not, it will become clear when the Good Magician gives you his Answer." Then she frowned. "But he wishes you to know that he is not in need of a deed at the moment. You will have to perform the one year's service." Lyndsey looked up at Peep, who nodded.  
"I guess that's ok," she said. "As long as Peep can stay with me."  
Wira nodded. "He will be allowed to remain."  
Lyndsey clapped her hands. "Well, let's get on with it, then!"   
"Very well," Wira said. "Please follow me, Lyndsey. Day, Night, Raven, Peep, Grundy- I must ask you to remain here." They all nodded. Lyndsey followed Wira into the room where Ip was.  
"Let's g-"  
"Go see the Good Magician?" Ip asked. Wira nodded. The trio walked up the stairs towards the Good Magician's study. He was hunched over a book in the middle of the overcrowded, messy room.  
"Go ahead," Wira directed them. Nodding, they stepped towards him.  
"You understand you have to serve?" Humfrey grumped. Apparenly, Ip's talent didn't affect him. Or maybe the severity of the situation had just rendered Ip speechless.  
"Yes," Lyndsey said.  
"Yes," Ip echoed.  
"Very well. Here is your Answer: Neo-Sorceress Lyndsey, the answer you wish for lies on the Isle of Talents. Go there with one who dislikes his talent, and you may collect all the talents you wish, until that person finds one he likes. This will return your status to full Sorceress." Lyndsey looked confused. Humfrey went on, undaunted.  
"Ip, you will accompany Lyndsey." Then Humfrey turned back to his book, ignoring the two.   
"This way, please," Wira said. Lyndsey sighed and followed her out. She wasn't satisfied with her Answer, but supposed there was nothing to be done now. At least she had gotten more than Ip.  
"Wira," Lyndsey asked, just before they reached the others." Ip had run ahead, and as such, their speech was not impaired.  
"Yes?" Wira asked kindly.  
"What is the Isle of Talents?"   
"I believe that when one touches the ground on the isle, one loses their talent, but that their talent is replaced with a new one."   
Lyndsey got a lightbulb. If she went to the Isle with Ip…he could change his talent! And she could take all of the talents until he found one he liked! It was the perfect solution. She smiled, now perfectly content. She couldn't wait to tell Ip. Or, almost tell Ip. She smiled ironically.  
"Hey, Lynds, how did it-" Day started.  
"Excuse me," Ip said sadly, moving into the next room.  
"How did it go?" Day finished.  
"Great! Now I have a way to get rid of Ip's talent, and get a few more for myself!"  
"That's great!" Night said. The three shared a group hug. They had not noticed that Wira had disappeared.  
"Oh, Grundy!" Lyndsey said, bending down to him. "I'm so sorry I forgot about you! If you were Guinever, we'd all be in trouble!" She laughed.  
"We're sorry too," Day and Night said in unison.   
"Don't worry about it, birdbrains," Grundy said. "You think I care?" But he was blushing, obviously pleased with the attention he was being given.  
"Hey, I just thought of something," Day said.   
"What?" Night asked.  
"We never needed Grundy to translate for us at all."  
"You're right! But how is that possible? We speak Mundanian, not Xanthian," Night said, surprised.  
"I can answer that!" Lyndsey said. The girls turned to her. "Xanth is magical. When you come here, you can automatically speak the language of Xanth. If a Xanthian went to Mundania, it would be a different story. But this way, it's ok."   
"Ohhhhh," Day and Night said together.  
"Hey, where did Wira go?" Peep asked, tired of being on the sideline. Raven, sharing his sentiment, moved closer to Day and put his arm around here.  
"I am right here," Wira said, stepping into the room. "And I have brought Destiny."  
"Destiny?" Day asked. A young girl stepped out from behind Wira. She had deep purple coloured hair- almost purple black. It was long, and matched the colour of her eyes.   
"Hello," she said, somewhat shyly. "I'm supposed to help you," she said.  
"How?" Night asked, stepping up to her. Day went too.  
"My talent is to change people's destinies. I don't get to use my talent much- I can only change destinies, not see them, and it would be a waste to unnecessarily change someone's destiny. But the Good Magician sent word, saying I would need to change two destinies today."  
"But what is our destiny?" Day asked, looking at Night.  
"To stay in Mundania," Wira answered. Apparently Humfrey had informed her of the situation. "It was not by chance that you transported yourself and Night out, so long ago. It was destiny. You were mean to live in Mundania." Both girls looked horrified.  
"But I can change that!" Destiny said quickly. "I can change your destinies so that you are meant to stay in Xanth." She smiled.  
"Oh yes, please do!" Day cried.  
"As soon as you can!" Night said eagerly.  
"Very well," Destiny said, smiling. She stepped up to Day, and put her arms on Day's shoulders. She closed her eyes and began to hum. A moment later, she stepped back. "Done," she said.  
"Now me!" Night said. Chuckling, Destiny stepped up to Night, and repeated the ritual.   
"Now you will remain in Xanth," Destiny said.  
"Oh, thank you so much!" Day said, throwing her arms around Destiny. "How can we ever repay you?"  
"Yes, anything!" Night said, hugging her too.  
Destiny smiled. "You don't owe me anything. I'm happy to have been mentioned in a story, and to have the chance to use my talent. I need nothing more." She glanced around. "But I'm afraid I must go now." She looked disappointed.  
"Do you have to? You could stay with us for a while," Day offered.  
"I'm afraid I must," Destiny said. She turned to walk out of the castle.  
"Thank you!" Day and Night called. Then they looked at each other. "We can stay!" The smiles on their faces lit up the whole room. Day ran to Raven and clung to him, and Night hugged Lyndsey. Next Day hugged little Grundy, with some difficulty, and Night hugged Peep. They continued this until everyone in the room had been hugged. It was a wonderful ending to the story.  
  
************************************************************************ 


	25. Unanswered Questions Answered

Unanswered Questions- Answered  
"And that's the story of how I helped two Sorceress' stay in Xanth," Grundy said, smiling down at his little daughter, Surprise.  
"But what happened with Day and Night?" she asked.  
"Well, they eventually harnessed their powers so well that they could move anything."  
"Anything at all?" Surprise asked in wonder.  
"Yep," Grundy asked. "Even things like colour, and voices."  
"Wow," Surprise said in awe.  
"And Day went on to marry Raven."  
"Neat-o. Did Night marry anybody?"  
"Not yet," Grundy answered. "But she lives close to Day and Raven, who had twins of their own. They love their Auntie Night."  
"What about Lyndsey? Did she get some more talents?" Surprise was quite inquisitive, possibly because she didn't want to go to bed yet.  
"Yes she did. Ip exchanged his, and Lyndsey acquired the talents of Small Illusions, Flying for Short Periods of Time, Unlocking Locked Doors, Changing Hair Colour, and a few other spot-on-the-wall talents. But she also learned that there are many people who don't like their talents, and started a Quest with Peep to find them, and show them the island. She also learned that she can steal talents when Peep helps her distract people. But she never does that unless they are bad people," Grundy said. Maybe his daughter could learn a few lessons from this story.  
"That's a neat Quest! I bet she's helping lots of people and getting lots of talents. Did she and Peep get married?"  
"They are scheduled too in a little while. And I'm sure the stork will be very generous with them…I think one of Lyndsey's new acquired talents was Stork Summoning."  
"What's that?" Surprise piped up. This was an interesting topic.  
"I can't tell you that, Surprise," Grundy said, ruffling her hair.  
Surprise looked disappointed. "Well, what about Guinever?"   
"He lives with Lyndsey's parents. They just adore him. Lyndsey goes back to visit frequently."  
"And Soda and Fizz?"  
"They take prolonged visits to Day, Night, and Peep's parents' house. They adore them."  
Surprise struggled to think of more questions. "What about…umm…Day and Night liking the term Neo-Sorceress?"  
Grundy smiled, impressed that she had remembered. "Well, they knew that they were simply too powerful to be called Neo-Sorceresses, so they call them selves Double-Neo-Sorceresses." Surprise giggled.  
"Did Prince Derek live happily ever after with Princess Mitchelle?"  
"Yes, they married and have two point five children," Grundy answered, not bothering to correct Surprise. Derek wasn't really a Prince, and Mitchelle wasn't really a Princess.  
"What about…umm…Ip? Did he live happily ever after?" She was struggling for a topic now.  
Grundy smiled. "Yes, he did. He received the talent of Granting Small Wishes. He met up with Destiny, and they married. They have a child together."  
"That's neat, Daddy. Is there anything else I should ask?"  
"I don't think so, Surprise. Now you better go to bed, before your Mother finds out you're still awake!"  
"Eeek!" Surprise mock-screamed, diving under the covers. Grundy left the room, and turned off the light.  
"Good night, Surprise," he murmured.  
  
THE END 


End file.
